By: Victoria You

Jing followed Yue to a grassy field, and in the moonlight, she saw glowing orbs of gold and silver within the flowers. At one point, Yue stopped, looking at the moon before picking up one of the orbs and putting it into a pouch. By now, Jing had started noticing Yue’s strange clothes. From the fabric top to the leather pants to the dozens of black pouches, Yue looked like a traveler in China from a long time ago.

Yue started walking again at a slower pace. Getting pulled from her thoughtful state, Jing stumbled after her. After walking for a while, Jing saw lanterns up ahead, which she hoped signaled a town or maybe a city. When they got there, though, she realized it was some old Asian city or something. Nobody seemed to notice the people with weird hair and eyes, which were everywhere, but they would look at the people with normal hair and eyes with something that looked like pity. In the middle of the city, there was a 5-floor pagoda.

“I’ll walk you to the crimson pagoda, but I can’t go in. But don’t worry; someone will guide you to your classroom,” Yue said. Yue’s talk was confusing, as if Jing knew what was going on or even as if she knew she was the “dragon spirit of the waters.”

“ The Crimson Pagoda is a school for new spirits, and they sort you into a level, or classroom, through one to eleven, one being the weakest and eleven being the strongest, ” Yue explained, clearly sensing Jing’s questioning. Well, time to see what I got, Jing thought.