Althaia Psykhe's Story

The wind around the school always tasted like lemons. It was one of the few universal constants of this world. The sun rises in the east, water is a liquid and Anthemia air tasted like lemons. Altam licked his lips, trying to savor the sweet breeze. It was a nice change from the sandy gusts of Ura, where he'd spent his whole time out of class. He reached behind him and patted his treasures to make sure they were still secure in the bag. Though not nearly as fruitful as his previous foray into the desert, he had stumbled upon an abandoned village and picked up some neat souvenirs for Cuddy and a few others. Honestly Altam was amazed the school's robot was able to find him. He wasn't exactly a technomaster but they had to be rocking some pretty good locating software to find him in the middle of a desert.

"Hey Shamal, you don't think the teacher's gonna be mean, do you?" the boy asked, his voice as light as the cloth they were riding on. The wooden staff shook in his hands.

'I still can't believe I know who he is and you don't. I'm a million year old wind spirit and even I've heard of the incredible Asher Donovan!' The boy shrugged and fell backwards onto the quickly moving sheet. Though the air had changed, it would still be a good ten minutes until they arrived at the school. Altam squirmed with excitement. He had so many stories to tell and songs to play that he didn't even know where to begin.

It wasn't long before the landscape gave way to stone walkways and large buildings. He peered over the side of his carpet and marveled at the sheer lack of people outside. "Everyone must be in class." He said matter-of=factly. It was about a minute of aimless flying later that it dawned on him. He wasn't in class! With as much speed as he could muster Altam raced towards the largest building, looking through the windows at a breakneck pace for Cuddy's cute face. However, what caught his attention wasn't his B.F.F but a gigantic metallic dragon hovering in front of a window. Altam yelled in relief.

"Frank! Am I glad to see you!" The dragon turned and acknowledged the boy before turning back to observe his master. Sliding up beside him, Altam lifted the window up just enough to fly through and floated into the room, quickly followed by a swift breeze.

"Sorry I'm late, I flew as fast as I could!" He hopped off his turban into thin air, hovering above the ground as the blanket wrapped itself back around his head. he floated into cuddy at top speed, embracing his friend in a hug and whisking them both higher into the air. "Cuddy! I missed you so much! I have sooooo much to tell you about what I found!" A small grunt emanated from the front of the room. The new teacher no doubt. After placing his friend gently on the ground Altam reluctantly landed and weakly strode to the celebrity who was now teaching their class. It was a difficult journey to say the least. It had been months since Altam had last touched solid ground and his legs threatened to buckle at any moment.

"Hi there sir, I'm Altam Haytham! Nice to meet you!" He bowed respectfully and pushed himself off the ground, turning it into a frontflip and zipping over to his bag of treasure.

"Where is it...." He mumbled, digging through his sack. "Ahh! Here it is!" A small wooden idol emerged from the bag, completely covered in markings and carved into the shape if a giant toothed beast. With a small gesture the idol floated beside Cuddy.

"I told you I'd bring you something didn't I?" Altam smiled and looked around the room. He had met almost everyone there some time in his life. Almost. With a look of intense curiosity he floated over to the girl with two shades of hair. There seemed to be no joy in her eyes and that was something that Altam could not stand for. A small bronze box the size of a baseball drifted slowly out of the treasure bag and onto the desk in front of her.

"When I get sad or lonely, I play myself a song. Maybe it can help you too." He smiled brightly at the strange girl and flew back to his seat, hovering upside down over his desk. "This is going to be a great year, I just know it!"