Two hands were cupped around a ragged k of marble. It was a man with a giant grey beard, and a big bald spot on his head dressed in rags. He held his hands pletely still and shut his eyes. The marble began to reshape between his hands, spinning as it turned into a perfectly smooth sphere with only his Calestiaal powers.

  “Terrific. Magnifit. Isn’t that just utterly wonderful?” Mr. Soleri said, pletely enamored with the video projected in front of the .

  On video days in Soleri’s css, I only stayed awake due to Oka or Kalei poking me, or by sneaking time away from the lecture to doodle. I didn’t have their assistahis time; Oka and Kalei still weren’t talking to me.

  They were lucky, they had friends outside of our room. Kalei was busy with beam chasers practice with the Matora sisters, while Oka had spent the week hanging out with Aira and Laenie and with the Kinders. I knew I must have really sucked for her to want to spend time with the Kinders.

  Without them, I had like, Stel. Who was too busy with work to listen to me all day. Dr. Diast was a teacher and I didn’t want to bug her with how much I sucked.

  During this css, I went against my better judgment and tried to read in the dark. Soleri had been saying some variation of how amazing the i artists of the Dolehal Thunder Mountains were for most of the css.

  Suddenly my book smmed shut in my face as the lights came on, causing the whole css to jump. I winced, knowing Soleri had caught me.

  “Miss Faleur,” Soleri said. “Could you care to expin what was more iing to you than the majesty we’re so lucky to have captured on film?”

  All eyes in the css were on me. Mercifully I didn’t bust out my nervous ugh, as my mouth was way too dry.

  “Well uh,” I said. “I was reading…”

  Soleri pulled the book away from me, catg it in one hand and holding it like I had been reading a book on something like drug manufacturing or a book on why his css was s.

  “Raina Starlight,” Soleri said, reading the cover of the book. “Ied in her fantasies? Or perhaps her ag career? Either way, vapid eai has no p this css.”

  A few giggles throughout css. I didn’t think it was funny.

  “I’m going to have to fiscate this, you know. You have it back after you prove you care about the school of Calestia more than a ludicrous at of adventuring.” Soleri said.

  I almost said, “That book, ary in Raina Starlight’s award winning fantastamoir series, was more about Raina’s time growing up than her magical travels,” but bit my tongue as I wao see my book again. After css, Soleri strode over to me and handed me an assig sheet.

  “Seven pages ohree principles of Calestia. By the end of the week. Then you get your book back.” Soleri said.

  I unfortunately answered with “Cool,” and Soleri upped it to eight pages for my unintended disrespect. I left css feeling very uncool.

  "Oh, and Faelur," Soleri said. "You have heard the news of my new position within the school, correct?"

  "I uh," I said. "Y-yeah."

  Peam randomly bbbed to me something the day Stel invited me to go Safe Silver shopping at a weird shopping district; that Mr. Soleri was the vice principal of Rising Shards. I didn't give it much thought at the time, but as Sred at me I realized it was about to bee a major issue.

  "I am keeping my eye on you," Soleri said. "After the beam chasers i, I want to make sure you are pleting everything on the Benta. If you start falling behind any more than you are, there will be sequences."

  I stopped myself from answering with "Cool," that time at least.

  Normally I’d fide in Oka or Kalei about this, but even if we were on speaking terms Kalei would probably say she fell asleep right as the movie started. Oka would probably have actual knowledge about the thing I o study. Something I had no clue about. I had to go to the library to look up what the three principles even were and only found them in a really old book. They were dutiful study, peacemaking, and a calm state of mind. So I was doomed.

  I mistakenly tried to get started on the assig right away there in the library. Right when school burnout had firmly set in for the day. The textbook described three important historical figures who each embodies one of the principles of Calestia. There was a i schor who travelled to a library hidden deep in a snowy mountaintop to study all that was inside, a brave woman who stood in the ter of a battle between a Kanibari army and a i army ahem to a nonvioleo the battle, and an Exa i who became so rexed a tree grew all around him. None of them really leapt out at me as paper material. I probably couldn’t go into the void while I had a 7-page paper, but if I really wao procrasti tion.

  My group’s first trip into the void temple was scheduled for that week, but I had already had my void vision so I was w if I could skip it. I got myself ready to ask Dr. Diast that by lying in bed and moping about having to do a paper and my friends being mad at me.