Everyone cheered at the event except Mena who remained quiet. For everyone else, this was the greatest event of their life, but to her, after what she witnessed, it was a much more serious matter. Ashlan turned around with a look of concern. “Mena, are you okay?”

An uneasy look of trepidation prompted Ashlan to come closer to her. Mena quickly whispered, “Can I please talk to you when we get back to our room?”

Ashlan gave her a warm, caring smile, much unlike the beast woman who tore up May’s book. She put a firm hand on Mena’s thin shoulder blade. “Of course. I know we just met, but I want to be that smart upper-classmen you can rely on.”

Mena looked down and bit her lip. “It’s going to be okay,” Ashlan said, reassuring her. “Are you worried about your placement?”

Mena nodded frantically without a word. Ashlan paused, but with a tilt of her head, a fanged smirk spread across her face; her eyes glinted with knowledge. Why was she so confident?

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” she said with her eyes closed. She turned around as the first finding was called up, leaving Mena to her thoughts.

A long list hovered close to Gemini as he called out the first name on it.

A timid dark-haired girl around Mena’s age hovered on his cloud before Gemini, the headmaster spoke without an inch of levity he usually had. “Let it be known that this Dream Castle is a haven for everyone with magical minds, especially those persecuted on the ground by the harsh laws of Autolycus. We welcome all new findings regardless of magical class, which only exists to properly select the programs you will take. Even a Groundborn with the lightest slither of imagicnation, can accumulate enough magic to rival the highest Lunaborn as long as they are willing to work at it!”

Mena gave a small smile. She was happy to know that Gemini had zero tolerance for the views of the Tessellation Twins. The timid girl’s face eased too, and as she stepped onto the cloud; it glowed the color of chocolate fudge. The planet orb above Professor Carrie lit up brightly. “Our first finding today, is a Groundborn!” Gemini announced proudly.

Laetitia blew a raspberry. “Sacre Bleu, already with the brown clouds.”

“P.U.” Marie said, “It’s already beginning to stink in here!”

Mena gritted her teeth. As Gemini went down the list, she realized how many of these students were Groundborns. It made her relax knowing that she’d have plenty of friends if things didn’t work out with Ashlan.

By the time Gemini had reached the final quarter of the alphabet, however, Mena’s eyes had glazed over. She felt bad, but it was such a long list that she was simply waiting for her name to be called. The next name of interest, however, came when Gemini called a ‘Morgane Tessellation.’ Mena looked up and saw a smaller version of the Tesselation sisters standing nervously before Gemini. She shared their beauty (her hair was a marble blend of black and silver) but lacked the snooty confidence of her older sisters. Her bright pink eyes trembled looking like she would cry at any moment.

“At last,” Laetitia said, her arms pumping in the air. “Finally, someone of interest. Our adorable baby sister!”

“She’s a certain Lunaborn in the making,” Marie added with an arrogant smile. “And such a petit cutie!”

Morgane stepped onto the cloud, and it hesitated for a moment, before turning bright orange. Professor Andromeda’s sun orb shone brightly. “Solborn,” Gemini announced.

“What…” Laetitia exclaimed, her mouth hanging open. “Only a Solborn?! But she is the noblest of Bourgelf blood!”

“How can we call her our sister!” Marie shouted, so loud that even Morgane heard, and her long ears drooped.

Suddenly, Ashlan glared at Laetitia, her teeth bared. “What do you mean only a Solborn?”

Mena noticed the pattern on Ashlan’s cloak and realized that her so-called friends were insulting her magic class.

“Oh, it is ok for you,” Laetitia said. “We know you are gifted, Ashlan. Simply the Tessellations have the noblest blood in Dula, so this is quite bizarre.”

Marie rubbed her hands together with a sinister expression. “Perhaps our daddy can give this clown some cash for a little rank change.”

Mena shook her head, but she was relieved that Ashlan was unhappy with the Tesselation sister’s rude behavior.

“Phenomena Willow,” Gemini called at last, and Mena’s throat dried out. It was time.

Ashlan piloted the cloud over to Gemini. Even worse for Mena, Ashlan and the Tesselation twins were floating right by the Magic Cloud of Judgement so she could clearly see their reactions if she turned out to be a Groundborn. She pictured the Tesselation sisters pinching their noses in repulsion and Ashlan refusing to look at her. The unsaid words of hate would mostly likely be uttered once they were out of Gemini’s range.

“Well, well,” Gemini said. “This is certainly the moment I’ve been waiting for. Climb aboard Mena and decide your destiny once and for all.”

Mena refused to look at everyone, but she knew all eyes were focused on her. Normally, this would be a very exciting moment, but she was terrified to the core. Slowly, she stepped on the cloud. Every inch of her being was weighing itself on the cloud, and she felt surges of electricity from her mind flow into the cloud below her. There was a low crackle, and suddenly, the cloud changed to rainbow. Everyone gasped. Mena could see the expressions on the teachers were all stunned, even Professor Caligari’s dull eyes widened.

Mena looked up at Gemini, his bright green eyes glowing like they were set ablaze. A small smile curled from his mouth. “Phenomena Willow…you are a Rainborn. Something we haven’t had since…”

“Arabella Willow,” Ashlan said, her eyes brimming with a know-all confidence. “I knew it.”

“I see someone is very well-knowledgeable on our school’s history,” Gemini responded to Ashlan. “A true bookworm. Or should I say, a booklion.”

Mena had so many questions filling her head about what a Rainborn was, but as Gemini’s eyes returned to their standard shade of rainbow, he smiled and said, “You can sit back down, Mena. But welcome aboard this crazy castle all the same.”

As their cloud swooped back to its usual spot, Aslan’s eyes shone fondly at Mena. Even the Tessellation Twins looked more stunned than angry. “Truly excellent, Mena” Ashlan said, clapping.

“But what’s a Rainborn?” Mena asked.

“Someone born on the ground who possesses an inordinate amount of imagicnation. It’s not surprising that Arabella was considered school royalty, even among Solborns and Lunaborns.”

“Whoa,” Mena responded, holding her hands to her cheeks. Her heart rate returned to normal, realizing she was safe…for now at least.

“As we conclude this ceremony and head off to sleep,” Gemini said, drawing everyone attention back up to him. “I’d like to let the newly minted findings know about two things exclusive to our Dream Castle.”

“In this castle of Royal Illusions, we are much closer to Dula, the land of dreams, and so, your dreams will be as close to reality as possible. When you slumber, don’t be surprised if your senses are fully awakened even in the unconscious. Whether it be the sweet taste of a lemon meringue pie, or the fond embrace of a desired love, these will feel like they actually happened.”

Mena delighted in hearing this. Perhaps she would get to feel what the pouty lips of Fabias tasted like when he moved in to kiss her. Her face turned bright pink just thinking about it.

“But be warned,” Gemini continued. “Your nightmares will feel real too. Pain, sadness, misery. If they take a dark turn, wake yourself up immediately. And now, Professor Caligari will tell you more.”

Caligari stood up on her cloud. Her penetrating ghostly-green eyes cutting through Mena’s happiness, and unsettling her. “Beware of peculiar nightshade that gathers in your dreams,” she said, her voice so cold and chilling it seemed sub-temperate. “It is the favorite food of nightcreepers.”

There was a disturbed rumble among the students, before one girl piped up, “Professor, what are nightcreepers?”

“Demons from the Nightmare Void. They manipulate the fabric of your vivid dreams, turning them into nightmares and devouring your sanity in the process. I will be training you to defend against them, lest your minds succumb to decay and madness.”

The sounds of panic filled the room, but Gemini quickly cut Caligari off. “Fortunately, the feeble minds of children are disregarded by all but the weakest of nightcreepers. Your innocence tends to not be of much interest to them.”

“And besides,” he said, raising and lowering his eyebrows. “We can’t all have sensuous, mature lady dreams like Professor Caligari here.”

Caligari was silent, but her eyes looked like they’d throttle the headmaster all by themselves.

“On that note,” Gemini said, “Your classes start tomorrow so I’d recommend getting an early night. Pleasant dreams!”

**

Heading back to their room, Ashlan and Mena were mostly silent. They were tired from all the eating, festivities and ominous warnings from Caligari, but when they got back, Ashlan gave Mena a smile when she lounged on the bed. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Though Mena had mostly calmed down since the bullying incident, she still wished to speak to Ashlan about her and the Tessellation sister’s behavior.

“Ashlan,” Mena asked. “Why did you rip up May’s book?”

Ashlan looked like she immediately regretted her behavior, but quickly summoned her ability to provide an answer for everything. “I think I got carried away. Marie and Laetitia were pressuring me.”

“But why did you listen to them?”

“Mena,” Ashlan said. “Laetitia and Marie are usually really nice.”

Mena gave her a look of disbelief at that statement. They had been nothing but mean to her, May, their little sister and even Ashlan.

“They took me in when I was just starting here,” Ashlan said. “I didn’t know anyone, but I immediately found something in common with them.”

“Was it your magic class?” Mena asked, still feeling very skeptical about Ashlan’s answers.

“That, and they know what it’s like to be so highborn. We both lived in the same way with matriarch mothers ruling the household and telling us how important it is to uphold our bloodlines at this school. We’ve got a lot on our shoulders.”

“Does upholding your bloodline really have to involve being mean to others,” Mena asked earnestly.

Ashlan sighed, but her green eyes gave Mena a reassuring glance. “Look, I’ll talk to them to stop it. If anyone can get through to them, it’s me.”

Ashlan stood up, and walked over to Mena, putting her arms on her shoulders. “You have my word, Rainy.”

“Thank you Sunny,” Mena said, gracious that she could rely on her new friend to make things right.

“Oh wow,” Ashlan said, her eyes sparkling. “We already came up with nicknames for each other. Our mothers took a whole year to come up with names for each other.”

“Ooh,” Mena said, her face spreading into a smile. “What were they?”

“Toyah Lionheart and Arabellie Bookwitch.”

“Wow those are adorable,” Mena gushed. “Did they call my mom that because she liked books?”

“She loved books!” Ashlan responded. “She always had her nose buried in one, especially the theater dramas. My mom always had to pull her out of her dorm when she wanted to do something. Arabella would always cry and hold her head, ‘But I’m getting to the good part!” and my mom would go, “To you, the whole book is the good part!”

Mena’s teeth sparkled in a magnificent grin. That was exactly how she was too. She savored every word in her romance novels.

“I’m excited about tomorrow, Rainy,” Ashlan said. “We should get some rest. But tomorrow, we’ll conquer the school!”

“I look forward to it, Sunny.”

Mena smiled as she saw that a gorgeous black velvet robe embroidered with rainbows lay neatly folded on the bed. Next to it were a pair of rainbow pajamas, courtesy of the headmaster himself. She quickly changed and tucked herself into bed.

That night she dreamed the most vivid dream she had ever experienced. But not only did it dazzle her, it mystified her and made her wonder how many unsolved mysteries lurked in the corridors of her new school.