by K. Manna
I snatched the dress from her hands, glaring at her. “If it’s not a big deal, then you shouldn’t mind me taking MY dress back, you rude bitch.” Throwing the purple purse at her, I added, “Here, you can have that.”
Lottie took my arm and pulled me away. From behind us, we heard Onnika huffing and puffing about MY dress and how I had called her a rude bitch. We were pretty sure that the girl Onnika complained to had witnessed the whole incident and knew exactly who had started it.
Sir Felix called out in a loud voice, “Time is up. Please bring your chosen item over here, and a servant will take it to your room. Next, I will show all of you what else the royal palace has to offer and where you are allowed to roam freely.”
The next two rooms on the tour were the movie rooms; they looked like a smaller but better version than any movie theater I had ever been to before. In each mini-theater, a large screen covered one wall completely. Instead of rows filled with uncomfortable movie theater chairs, there were rows of comfy, gray reclining chairs. And the absolute best part was the front row closest to the screen, where hundreds of fluffy pillows swamped the floor: pillows of all different shapes and sizes, colored blue, gray, white, and black.
“I want to swim in all of those pillows,” I told Lottie. “I want my bedroom to look like that.”
Lottie smiled. “Me, too.”
“Me three,” Gage’s high-pitched girly voice teased.
All of the guys became giddy like little children when we walked into the game room. Countless flat-screen TV screens hung on the walls, and connected to them was every type of video gaming system ever made. The video game selection was ridiculous. Gory fighting games didn’t interest me, but the singing and dancing games did. I looked over at Gage, and he had a giant smile on his face.
He is in his glory.
Gage’s obsession with video games began at a young age. Our grandfather had given him a game, and he couldn’t get enough of it. Seriously, he could pass a whole day playing games, and it wouldn’t even faze him.
The opposite side of the room had arcade games. Some of my favorites were the pinball machines and air hockey. Colorful blinking lights and gaming noises filled the room. All of the machines had been programmed so that no coins were needed to play.
Awesomeness!
Crazy, obsessed Gage just couldn’t help himself. When I turned my head to find him, he had already begun to check out the massive selection of video games. I walked over to Gage’s side. “Didn’t you get lucky? They have enough games to keep you busy for years. I honestly thought that you would suffer from withdrawal symptoms without your games.”
“It’s not luck, Go-Go; it’s fate. Video games are what life’s all about, and even the Zylo knows that or he wouldn’t have all of these. I’m sure the Zyon can’t keep his hands off of them either. By the way, when do you think we will meet him?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “I don’t know. Nobody has said anything about him or the rest of the royal family.”
Sir Felix voiced loudly, “Okay, we will continue on, everyone. Please follow me.”
I could almost hear Gage’s heart breaking when he realized that we weren’t staying longer in video game paradise.
Stepping into the next room put a huge smile on my face: an enormous arts and crafts room. I would be able to paint.
Yay!
The setting sun filtered through the large stained-glass windows creating colorful shadows on the walls. Someone, clearly an artist, had painted the walls from top to bottom with an amazing scene of a futuristic castle with ivy-covered walls. The trees, bushes, and rolling hills looked so realistic but magical at the same time. It even had a moat, most of which was covered in bold-green lily pads that floated atop the water. Thousands of iridescent bubbles flew through the air, and in one corner they gathered en masse like bubbles sticking together in the bathtub.
Very interesting. I wonder if the bubbles mean something?
Easels lined one side of the room, and shelves of paint—every color of paint ever created—stood waiting for me. Spotless pottery wheels sat in one corner of the room. Containers were filled with beads and other jewelry accessories. Oil pastels, coal, colored pencils, and more filled other containers for those who liked to draw. I could’ve spent days in this room.
Someone tugged at my sleeve. “Hey, you. Are you going to come with us into the next room or just stand here?”
“Probably just stand here.” I looked at Lottie with a teasing smile.
“Well, honey, I’m pretty sure that you have to come with us. You can always come back later. It’s not like the room is gonna go anywhere. So, you must be an art freak, then.”
“Yeah, I guess you can say that. I finished a pretty big painting on the backyard fence at my house yesterday.”
Lottie said, “Cool, dude. You will have to paint me something sometime, but for now, we gotta go.”
It wasn’t until she nudged me toward the door that I noticed a man sitting quietly at a table in the far corner by a window. He had a paintbrush in his hand and a canvas in front of him on the table.
Lottie pulled me through the doorway, and I whispered. “Did you see that man?”
“What man?”
“The man painting in the corner.” I looked back toward the art room.
“Nope, I didn’t notice anyone. Are you sure you’re not seeing things? Maybe it was a ghost,” Lottie said jokingly, still pulling me along.
“No, I’m not seeing things. He was sitting right there in the corner,” I explained.
Lottie looked back at me. “Okay, I believe you, but I didn’t see him. Here they are.”
The group stood next to a large pool shaped like the letter “Z.” Clean teal-blue water glistened up at us. Along one edge of the pool stood a rocky-looking wall where two water slides fed water into the deep end of the pool.
Fun! I want one!
Sir Felix put a key in the wall and turned it with a click, and the window-covered ceiling began to open letting the setting sun’s glow creep through.
A pale, blonde-haired girl named Elise giggled. “That is so cool!”
Then a cute, dark-chocolate-skinned guy named Cole started to say something. “Ah, well, I didn’t bring my swimming shorts. Are my boxer briefs, okay?”
A muscular guy named Ricky laughed. “No, dude, you have to go naked.”
Everybody laughed.
“No, young sir, we prefer not to see any of you undressed.” Sir Felix smiled. He walked over to a silver button on the wall and pressed it. “This button will open this closet where bathing suits are stored. There is something appropriate for each of you here. Bathing suits are on the left, and towels are on the right. Dirty towels go in this container; dirty bathing suits go in that container. There are changing rooms in the back near the bathrooms. No urinating in the pool, please. If you do, the water will turn dark blue for all to see. And boys, there will be no peeking into the changing rooms. Do not forget that there are cameras everywhere. I don’t think I need to stress this to you girls because,” he smiled, “you already know better, right?”
Gage yelled out, “Whatever. They’re just as bad. They may look innocent, but they’re not.”
Everyone laughed again.
Onnika looked through the swimsuits. “Ugh, is this all you have? I don’t wear one-piece bathing suits. They’re so ugly. They remind me of an old grandma.”
“Well, I am sorry to hear that, my dear. But yes, this is all that we have. The Zyla believes that two-piece bathing suits are much too revealing,” Sir Felix explained.
“Oh, please. Why are two-pieces too revealing, when the guys can wear those teeny-weeny briefs? That doesn’t make any sense. And briefs are not cute,” Onnika blurted out, tossing a blue brief out of her hand.
Most of the girls weren’t too thrilled about having to wear a
one-piece bathing suit either, but we all laughed about the guys having to wear tiny, skin-tight briefs. The guys laughed too, but mostly because they were speculating which boys would be first to try on the uncomfortable garments.
Indee walked over, picked up a pair, and held it up to his waist. “Actually, I like them. They are more comfortable than swimming shorts and much cuter. You all need to quit your complaining.”
Sir Felix patted Indee on the back. “That’s my boy. Well, enough said about that.” He pointed to the back of the large room. “There are two steamy hot tubs for you to enjoy. Through the doors beside the hot tubs you will find a workout room and an open gym with a closet full of sporting equipment.”
“Awesome, let’s go and check it out. I need to work out these huge pipes of mine.” Ricky flexed his arm, kissing his bicep.
Whoa, cocky-guy alert.
Sir Felix glanced at his watch. “I am sorry, but we don’t have time for that right now. I have to meet with the Zylo, and very soon, in fact. I realize that time has flown by, but we must head back immediately. Please follow me.”
Sir Felix opened a wide set of doors that led to a courtyard behind the palace. A cool gust of wind blew in as the heavy-looking doors swung open. Stars began to twinkle against the clear, darkening sky. In front of us stood a silver platform surrounded by fifteen royal-blue mats that were marked, as many things were, with a silver letter “Z.” Each mat lay perfectly spaced apart in the shape of a circle on the freshly mowed grass.
Okay, what’s going on here? Maybe we’re going to meet the Zyon, finally.
“Please pick a mat to sit on, and try to keep your voices down. I will be back shortly,” Sir Felix said.
“How long are we going to be out here, because I’m cold,” Onnika complained.
“Oh, here, let me turn the heater on for you. I should have thought of that beforehand. Forgive me, my dear,” Sir Felix apologized and flicked a switch. “You will be warm in no time.”
The switch controlled a large, rectangular orange light that turned on just above the set of doors that we had come through. Slowly, the air around us became warmer. It felt like the sun’s rays warming everything through and through. Each of us chose a mat. Lottie sat on my left; a girl named Maybree sat on my right and introduced herself. Maybree had a really cute hairdo, one that I could have never pulled off. Her strawberry blonde hair was cut boyishly short in the back with her wavy bangs tapering longer around her freckled, heart-shaped face.
Maybree looked at me with her hazel, almond-shaped eyes and asked, “Hey, what is your name again?”
“Margo, but you can call me Go-Go.”
“Love it. You can call me Bree. So is,” she pointed toward Gage, “he your brother?”
“Yeah, it’s crazy how we were both chosen to come here. I wasn’t at all surprised that he was chosen—he has always been lucky like that—but I was in total shock when they called out my name.”
“I know, right? I couldn’t believe when they called my name either,” Maybree agreed.
Lottie joined in our conversation. “Hey, who are you rooming with? You’re not with that stuck up Onnika chick, are you?”
Maybree shook her head. “No, I’m with Sasha. She seems pretty cool, even though she has a pissed-off facial expression. It was kind of funny because earlier I asked her if she was mad about something. She said no, but people ask her that all of the time. It’s just the way she looks. We laughed about it.”
“I talked with Sasha a little bit ago, and she seemed nice. I thought she looked kind of mad, too, but I didn’t say anything. There’s something intimidating about her,” Lottie said, looking in Sasha’s direction.
I looked over at Sasha. She definitely was the tallest girl among us. Her long legs were very muscular, unlike the rest of us females’. Tight black curls hung over her broad shoulders. This chick must have worked out because her muscles were ripped, more ripped than everyone else’s here, except for maybe Ricky. They were pretty comparable.
After much chatting and staring around the circle, Sir Felix joined us outside again. With a large smile stretched across his face, he walked to the platform and stood smack dab in the center of all of us. “The time has come to formally introduce the Royal Zylo. Please stay seated on your mats at all times unless directed to do otherwise.”
The Zylo had been on the boat coming here to the palace, but as far as I knew, no one had had the chance to talk with him. I had seen him in the lounge talking with those other important-looking men. I remember he had smiled at me.
From the corner of my eye, I saw someone walking toward the platform. All heads turned.
The Zylo.
He walked gracefully toward the platform, his armed guards staying stiffly in place outside of the doors. His skin looked deeply bronzed from his many trips to the desert of Ravue. The Z-Screen always kept us well informed about his trips, in which he hoped to make an agreement of some kind so that another war would not occur. The Zylo’s teeth were exceptionally white in contrast to his tanned skin. As always, he wore the royal colors: royal blue, silver, and white. He wore a formal outfit that fit perfectly on his tall, muscular body and sure to be worth more than all of my belongings put together.
Sir Felix stepped off of the platform so that the Zylo could take his place. The Zylo’s beaming blue eyes glanced at all of the faces surrounding him. “Hello to all of you young ladies and gentlemen. I am so pleased to have all of you with us, and I hope that you have enjoyed your time here thus far. Surely you are all wondering how and why you were chosen to be part of the Royals Rise, and I am here to tell you exactly that. Well, it is simple, actually. Each and every one of you has been blessed with a gift—an extraordinary gift that you were born with. And with special technology, we can detect these gifts so that they can be studied, and you can learn how to use them and hone them. Most people are born with no gift at all. Each of you is an exception.” The Zylo pointed to each of us. “You have been born with a tremendous gift that you should be very proud of. Plus, it has brought you here. What could be better?”
Indee raised his hand. “What is my gift? What have I been born with?”
“Bad taste in clothes,” Ricky grumbled, his hand in front of his mouth.
A couple of people laughed at Ricky’s jab.
What a jerk.
Raising his hand to silence the laughter, the Zylo went on, “My highly technical scanners are able to detect different kinds of energies from within the body and where exactly this energy is being created. Each and every one of your scan results shows high amounts of energy in a certain area of your body. My son, the Zyon himself, selected the categories for his Royals Rise, but our specialists have chosen the top three candidates for each. Now, you must understand that everyone and everything consists of energy, but each of you has a certain energy that gives your body the ability to do something far greater than the typical human being. Most of the people born with these abilities will either never know that they have them, or if they do, their abilities will never reach their full potential. It takes practice, time, and a great deal of effort to nurture these gifts. For many it is very difficult, or even impossible, to tap into this energy after the age of eighteen if it hasn’t already been developed. The mind and body lose most of this energy if not used and used continuously. There is a saying, ‘If you don’t use it, you lose it.’”
Onnika raised her hand. “I have always had really good hearing. My doctor says it’s, like, exceptional. Is that kind of what you mean?”
An attendant quickly handed the Zylo a blue folder full of documents, which the Zylo hurriedly paged through. He held up her photograph. “Here is your photo. The report states that your name is Onnika.” He looked in her direction. “Is that correct?”
Onnika nodded.
“Well, my dear, your report states that you have a significant amount of energy in your
ear region. This is precisely why you were chosen. Onnika, you naturally hear very well, and when you learn how to use every bit of your energy, you will be able to hear even better. Imagine being able to hear, from where you are seated now, my whispers from that palace gate,” the Zylo explained, pointing to a gate in the far distance.
“Yeah, right. That’s impossible. There’s no way a person can do that.” Onnika jutted her chin out.
The Zylo nodded his head. “Oh, yes, it is possible. I know for a fact that it is possible. I have known people who are able to do it.”
Cole raised himself up on both knees. “No way, dude. Are you serious? You’ve got to be joking.”
“No,” the Zylo shook his head. “I am not joking. I am being completely serious, and it is very, very possible. But to do this, one needs to focus and be determined. It is not easy. Each of you will need to learn patience and control. You will be grouped into five different groups, each group having a different ability. There will be a daily meeting time with a guide who will help each of you learn how to use your energy to your greatest potential. Everyone …”
Ricky interrupted. “What is my ability? I don’t care about having good hearing. C’mon, tell me. Mine has got to be better than that.”
“You’re a jerk!” Onnika yelled.
With a roll of his eyes and a surprised look on his face, Ricky replied, “Okay. Anyway, back to what I was saying.” He looked from Onnika back to the Zylo. “So tell me. Am I, like, the toughest one here? That’s what I wanna hear.”
Voices began to erupt, one after the other. Everyone had grown too excited and impatient and couldn’t stop themselves from asking more questions. All the questions flew out at the same time, making it difficult to understand what exactly was being asked and by whom. I sat and watched this whirlwind. Some tried raising their voices, while others stood up from their mats and started for the platform, thinking to be next in line to have their questions answered. Immediately, the guards rushed toward the platform. The Zylo looked extremely irritated and raised his hand toward us, closing his eyes. Silence fell within seconds.