1 Chapter 1

My heart is vibrating. This is my first time. The Council is of the highest ranking, and I'm finally able to present myself. The Council consisted of our four heroes. Those heroes which we look up to, who have had legends made of them, who are now standing right before me. They're much bigger in person. I always imagined that they would be old and small. They're definitely younger then what I was told. Everyone had taught me that they were in their 80s, but they all look like they came out of the womb yesterday. Anyways, today is the day of my baptizing, an event which happens when a boy turns 14 and when a girl turns 13. I'm finally going to get my powers! I'm so excited. I wonder what it will be. My dad's power is creation and my mom's power is destruction. In occasions where the parents' powers oppose each other, the possibility of what your power could be is endless. My sister got the power of teleportation. I've always wanted the power of fire, but when my parents found out that I could be given that power, they put their vote in as anything but. They still won't explain why. When I ask, they hesitantly change the subject, and whenever someone else does, I'm kicked out of the room. My friend Mason's baptizing was yesterday, and the council granted him the power of ice. People which have the same power as one of the realms are considered of higher power than others. That's why I so badly desire the power of fire. Additionally, people whose relative is in or has a connection to the council is looked at in a godly way. So Mason is literally a celebrity in my school. And I should be so lucky to be his friend. That's where I get my popularity from. It's definitely not from my corny jokes or fresh looks. "Welcome Jackson Maslow to your very first baptizing. I'm sure you know how the procedure goes by now," said The God. Truth be told, I had learned all about how the baptizing occurs in school, but I was too nervous right now to recall all that I'd learned. It seems that The Council noticed this because then The Mage said, "if you need a moment to breathe, Mr. Maslow, you may go sit over there and calm down. You have no more than 10 minutes." I walked over to the bench on the side and sat. It was rather comfortable, and it allowed my to gather my thoughts together. The room I was sitting in was massive. The walls were coated with golden floral designs up and down. The floor was a shiny orange color, and glistened in the light coming from the silver chandelier hanging from the ceiling. People had been walking in and out of the room, but I remembered from what I learned in school that no one was allowed in the waiting room during a baptizing, except for me, and that these people were only there so that I wouldn't feel alone. They were imaginary, and even if you knew you were hallucinating, you couldn't stop seeing them. It's all part of the illusion. As I sat in this seat, star-struck from The Council, I breathed, in through my nose, out through my mouth. This is one of the biggest days of my life. I hope that I get in good with The Ice Queen. From what I hear, she's a really powerful member of The Council. She was the second hero to come into existence, after The God. She is the one who grants you your power. But make one wrong move and she will curse you and your entire family with a life of no more children and early death. The Mage is the only one so far who seems like he's going to be the easiest to charm. He's a scrawny guy, and his emotions are as fragile as a house of cards, from what I hear. I've known more about The Mage than any of the other heroes since he is the creator of my realm: The Realm of Magic. Of the four realms, I think that our realm is the coolest. We have dragons and wizards and all sorts of cool things, and the other realms have boring things like time and fire. Speaking of which, I hope to visit The Realm of Fire one day. The people in that realm are the most famous people in all the realms. All the actors and singers and authors are all from The Realm of Fire. Of course, however, they give themselves a bad reputation because of their hero, the one staring into my soul, The Dragon. He's truly horrifying. I heard that he punishes people in court by burning them from the inside out. He does have a good side, though it's very hard to access it. "Mr. Maslow," said The Ice Queen, "are you ready for your baptizing?" No. I'm not ready for this at all. If I don't calm down at least a little, my heart might just pop right out of my chest. But instead of being honest, since technically I have 4 more minutes to calm down, I say, "yes." "Amazing! Let us get on with it. Now repeat after me: Haternus Quem Senata jimaca recata heste pasagio." I felt stupid repeating that. Most of the people in The Realm of Magic speak English, but it's required of every boy at the age of 14 to learn how to speak fluent Manilerish, which is the official language of The Realm of Magic. We are only required to know Manilerish in case we end up in court later in life, which, in The Realm of Magic, happens almost every day. I vaguely remember my friend Harry telling me something about a stolen rock, but his power is to see the future, so it didn't happen yet. But that guy apparently won't end up going to court, and he becomes the first person ever to speak Manilerish in vain. I heard that that's not legal, but whatever. "Quem gimina hernata erca porios." That one sounded a little funny. Of course, I know that it means that they will give me powers, but it still all sounds like gibberish. Then The Dragon proceeded to give me a blessing while I was surrounded by fire. The fire made me shiver, for some reason, and was very uncomfortable. After his blessing, he wheezed and sat back down in his seat. Then The Ice Queen stood up and started blessing me. As she was saying her blessing, a small cloud formed above me. To be clear, the cloud was only above me. Small snow flurries started to fall as she ended her blessing. These snow flurries were different, however, than the ones I see on a normal winter's day. They weren't making me shiver, they weren't shaped normally, and most of all, they made me very happy. Suspicious. As she ended her blessing, the cloud slowly started to disappear. She sat back down in her seat, smiling. Had I gotten onto her good side? If so, how did I do it? Instead of giving me their blessings, neither The God or The Mage stood up. In fact, they started clapping. "What's happening? Why are you applauding?" I asked. "Oh Jackson. We've found your power!" replied The Dragon. "You have?! What is it?" I asked. When The Ice Queen stood up I immediately knew what it was. "Jackson Maslow, I present to you the power of ice!" she said. Oh my lord. I have ice powers now?! I totally was not expecting that. After the ceremony, which had cakes and cookies, I walked with The Ice Queen into a separate room with a few other kids my age, including Mason, for a brief orientation. "Welcome Jackson and all of you other Newunns. Over this 2 year course on how to use Ice, I hope to get to know each and every one of you. We will begin with a simple icebreaker."