Spirit Academy

I hesitantly walk up to the boat with my suitcase in hand. The other students pass by with no problems, ready for another year at Spirit Academy.

One of the students pushed me to the side, knocking me over.

I look up to see who it is, and he has long white hair and a scar on his right cheek. His eyes are a cold icy blue, reflecting his personality.

I try to grab my suitcase, but he kicks it into the ocean below.

I look over the side and sigh. I guess I have nothing now, great.

Suddenly my suitcase comes flying out of the water. I manage to catch it, but it's soaking wet. I look over the side and see someone in the water.

"Try not to drop your stuff!" She calls up to me.

"Thank you!" I wave to her.

She waves back, and changes into her Spirit Animal. Her animal is a dolphin.

I watch her swim off, with amazement. I quickly head onto the boat, and I'm given a piece of paper with my room number on it.

Once everyone has their numbers, and I believe that it��s three people per room. One of the professors makes an announcement.

"Alright everyone!" She yells.

Everyone falls silent.

"You all have your room numbers. Go find them and you must stay in your rooms until we arrive at the school." She finishes her directions and we all head to our cabins.

All the students manage to find their rooms, but I manage to get lost. I wander around, trying to find my cabin, but I'm not sure if I'm in the right part of the boat.

"Everyone is in their cabins, we will depart in a few minutes. As a reminder, do not leave your rooms until we arrive at the Academy. I also suggest that you hold onto something." The professor says over some sort of speaker system.

Wait, what? There's nothing for me to hold onto in this hallway.

The boat jerks violently as it starts up. It knocks me off my feet and forehead smacks into one of the corners of the wall. Blood runs down into my eye, blinding me. I can no longer see straight, and my stomach is twisting making me queasy. I manage to trip over myself, and fall onto the floor.

Next thing I know there is a huge paw in front of my face. It slowly changes into a human hand.

Before I can see what happens next I black out.

My parents are somewhat well known in the 'spirit world' I guess you call it. My parents' Spirit Animals are both unicorns, which are one of the more rare creatures. My siblings have some more common ones, like tigers and wolves. I, on the other hand, haven't gotten mine yet. Typically you first change into your Spirit Animal when you're really young. It usually happens around the age of six. Obviously that never happened with me. Once I finished 'regular' school, I was held back for a year by my parents. They wanted to see if I found it yet.

And here I am going to an academy to learn about Spirit Animals, when I don't even have my own. If I can't find it by the end of my first year, I'll become a servant to the Spirit King.

The Spirit King is a Golden Lion with wings, and he rules with his Queen, the Pegasus. No one has seen her for over a decade though, makes me wonder how lonely the King must be.

I wake up in a large room, it reminds me of the luxury rooms you would find in some hotels. I look to my right, and I see a man with long beige-brown hair, sitting in a chair sleeping.

My head pounds, almost as if it will explode any second. I try to sit up, but a hand is put on my shoulder stopping me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man beside me warns.

I touch my head out of reflex, my head hurts more when he talks.

He hands me two pills, and a tall glass of water. "Take these, it will help with your headache."

I take them and drink a little bit of the water. "Who are you?"

He smirks. "I haven't been asked that question in a long time."

I raise an eyebrow in confusion, accidentally breaking open my head wound.

He notices the blood instantly, and he grabs a handkerchief to wipe it away.

As he leans in close, I notice that his eyes are split just like a cat's eyes. He sits back in the chair and crosses his legs. "I am the Spirit King."

My heart skips a beat. Was I literally rescued by the Spirit King? "Forgive me for not bowing Your Majesty."

"There's no need for that. I won't expect formalities from you. So, how did you manage to hurt yourself almost to the point of getting a concussion?"

I look at the floor in embarrassment. "I got lost on my way to my cabin. I've never been on a boat before."

He stays silent for a while.

I glance at his face and he looks like he and I are the same age, he might be a little older.

"I'll have the professors take better care of their students." He seems a little irritated.

"I apologize for being a burden to you. It's my fault for being stupid."

"It's not your fault, usually the students use their spirits to help them find their rooms." He looks me up and down.

I'm sure he knows by now that I don't have one. So, let's change the subject. "Good sailing weather today, yeah?" I ask nervously.

He raises an eyebrow. "Don't you mean flight weather?"

What?

Seeing the look on my face, he continues. "This boat was made to fly most of the way to the school. The reason being that mermaids have been a nuisance lately. So we are just sailing on the river."

I'm speechless, I didn't know that boats had the capability of flight.

He glances out the window. "I believe that we are almost there. They should be serving lunch soon."

We sit in silence for a while, then there is a knock on the door.

"Come in." He says.

A maid comes in with a trolley of food. She bows to us both. "Forgive me Your Majesty, we weren't sure what your guest preferred. So we made an assortment."

She wears a black mask to cover her face. They're made to keep their identity a secret. Rumor has it that most of them come from prominent families.

"Thank you, you are dismissed.���

She bows again and leaves the room.

"I hope you're hungry. I assume you haven't eaten anything since you got on the boat?"

I shake my head and slowly sit up.

"What is your preference? Meat? Veggies? Anything?"

"I'm a Vegetarian."

"I see."

I sit across from him, why is this so weird?

He serves himself a steak, and stares at me.

I hesitantly grab an apple from the fruit bowl in the center of the table.

He looks down at his plate and starts to eat. It's not surprising that he only eats meat, he is a lion after all.

I attempt to not stare at him too much, but it's hard not to. He is the most beautiful creature in the entire kingdom. His hair is really long and reddish brown. His eyes are a golden orange color, like the sunset on a beautiful afternoon. His skin is rather pale for a lion though, I guess they don't let him out very much. "I hope the food is to your liking." He places his chin in hand and leans on the table.

I nod.

"What is your name, if I may ask."

"My name is Celestia, but my family call me Celest for short."

"I see, do you have any friends that call you that?"

"No, um." I hesitate. "I'm sorry to bother you, your highness, but I think it would be best if I find my room." I head for the door, but something tells me that I shouldn't.

I hear him stand up as I reach for the handle.

Suddenly the boat rocks back and forth.

I almost fall over, but he manages to catch me.

The boat rocks more, making my stomach twist and turn.

He holds me tightly, as the boat slowly stops.

I cover my mouth in an attempt to prevent myself from vomiting.

"Are you alright?" He asks, releasing me from his tight grip.

I shake my head. I try to gather my strength, but it's no use. I throw up what's left of my lunch, onto the floor.

He grabs a nearby garbage can, just in case I need it. After a minute or two, he chuckles.

"What's so funny?" I ask, spitting into the can. "You remind me of my late wife. She didn't like to travel very much."

"Oh, yeah? Couldn't she fly herself?" I wipe my mouth on my sleeve, and look up at him.

"She could have." He starts taking off his suit. "Given our status, we aren't allowed to do very much." He tosses his clothes aside, and puts on his robe.

I try to look away, but my eyes are drawn to his muscles. The unnatural strength of the lion is overwhelming. I can only imagine how many women wish they could be with him. "Sorry if I got some on you."

"It's alright, I'm used to it by now. Besides, I need to prepare for the opening ceremony. I'll see you there, yes?"

"If I can find the place."

He laughs. "I'm sure it won't be that hard. They give you a map of the school, by the end of your first year you'll know where you're going."

"If I don't fail first." I mutter to myself.

"And why is that?"

Surprised, I don't answer. I didn't think he could actually hear me.

A maid comes in and cleans up the mess. Once she finishes, she hands me a small medicine bottle. "Only take them when you travel, they help with the motion sickness." She puts a finger to her lips, trying to keep it a secret. She quietly leaves the room soon after.

I look at the King for a second, trying to make sense of what happened.

"Don't worry, I promise they're okay. We don't want you ruining the boat." He sits on the bed that I was sleeping in. "We are landing as we speak."

That's somewhat of a relief, it does feel like we are slowly falling.

"Where's the opening ceremony?" I ask through the awkwardness.

"The Auditorium as usual."

Without anything else to really talk about we stay silent for the rest of the descent.

All the students are escorted off the boat, and they actually gave me a map.

I make my way to my dorm room and unpack my stuff. I can hear the other girls gossiping about the Spirit King. Apparently they heard a rumor that he was here, and they want to confirm it.

"I heard that he is devilishly handsome." One says.

"I was told that he's rather aggressive with females."

They all gasp.

"Does that mean he was aggressive with the former Queen?"

Annoyed with the chatter, I finish unpacking my stuff and quickly leave the dorms.

I hate gossip, it's stupid and unnesecary. Although the Spirit King seemed really nice when I was with him. I can see how he can be intimidating, but that's about it.

I walk around the enormous school, and end up at the gardens. Walking around, there are all kinds of different flowers and plants. I even pass by a few veggie gardens, and fruit orchards we can enjoy. I'm not sure how long it's been, but it feels like it might have been hours.

I stop in my tracks, as I find a huge patch of Daylilies. They're everywhere, in every color imaginable. In the center of it all, is a statue of the Pegasus made in obsidian. Her wings are as long as I am tall. Her eyes are a bright purple, watching over the gardens.

I walk over to the ones closest to the statue, they're a red and orange mis. They remind me a lot of tigers. Leaning in close, I smell their wonderful aroma. They remind me of the ones we had back at home.

"Do you like them?" A voice says behind me.

I turn around and see the King behind me. I bow to him. "Hello, your Majesty. Yes, I do like these flowers, they're my favorite flowers."

He puts his hand on my shoulder. "I thought I told you that you didn't have to be formal with me."

"I'm sorry."

"You know, this garden was made many years ago for the Pegasus." He walks over and caresses one of the flowers. "Sometimes she would eat them."

"She could eat them?" I didn't know she was able to. Most people would get sick from eating flowers.

"What I also find interesting, is that you love the smell of these. No one comes to the garden very often because of the smell. To most, the Daylilies smell worse than death. That includes me."

"I'm not sure what you're trying to say."

He walks right up to me and caresses my cheek. "What I'm saying is, I believe that you are the next Pegasus."