The next day was similar to the previous one. Kylie woke up, showered and dressed, then walked along the ship’s corridors with Charity to breakfast. After breakfast, the future Guardians—plus Charity—went to the game room, where they played various games until lunch, which was eaten in the dining hall. After lunch, the group played more games until Airi’s voice sounded in the speaker announcing that she had brought a new Guardian—a girl—and was sending her their way.

                The girl arrived with a knock on the door which was answered by Jennifer. She was wearing sandals with a short summer dress of a light-blue airy fabric. Her golden-brown hair, dyed light purple at the tips, was tied back in a neat ponytail, and her eye color seemed to change depending on the light: lavender in some lights, sky-blue in others.

                 The girl greeted the room with a confident smile and said with an airy and cheerful voice,

                “Hello everyone, my name’s Reina Tringale. What are your names?”

                The group introduced themselves, and then began to ask Reina questions as she sat down on the couch: where she was from, what her school life was like, if she had any hobbies, etc. Being an obvious extrovert, Reina answered them all with much energy, and in turn, asked the rest of the group questions.

                Apparently, Reina was from California, her father was French, she enjoyed the beach, drawing, and arts and crafts. Aside from PE—she was on her school’s swim team—her favorite school subject was science—physics specifically.

                “It’s partly because of my teacher,” Reina told the group, when no one could believe that physics was her favorite subject. “She’s really nice and is very good at explaining things to the class so that everyone understands.”

                When there was a break in the conversation, Jasper invited Reina to play a game with the rest of the group, and she gladly accepted.

                The rest of the afternoon went on with more games and talking, until six o’clock arrived, and it was time for dinner.

                That night, Asla Delmare was present at dinner.

                Kylie saw her just as she and the rest of the group walked into the dining hall. She was seated alone at a table, staring out through one of the ship’s portholes. A fork was in her hand, stabbed into one of the meatballs (which paired with spaghetti) but she was barely paying any attention to it.

                “Looks like your mom’s here,” Kylie whispered to Charity. “She’s finally come out of her room.”

                Charity nodded.

                “Yes, I’m glad. I’m sure some socialization will do her good.”

                “I’m going to go say hello before I sit down,” Kylie said, then walked quickly to get in line for food ahead of everyone else.

                Once she had gotten her pasta, Kylie walked over to Asla’s table and greeted her.

                “Hello,” Kylie said, but it seemed Asla had not heard her. “Good evening, Mrs. Delmare,” Kylie said again, and this time Asla turned her head from the porthole and set her eyes upon Kylie, as she said, “Or should I say, Professor Delmare?”

                Asla’s mouth raised itself into something like a failed attempt at a smile.

                “Ah, Kylie, yes,” Asla said, distractedly, as if she had just been knocked out of a daydream and wanted to get back in. “How are you? How have you been?”

                “I’ve been pretty well, and you?” Kylie replied.

                Asla’s face fell slightly.

                “I heard about your husband, Mr. Delmare,” Kylie told her. “I’m really sorry. I’m sure that was really hard for you and Charity.” Kylie wanted to say something else but couldn’t find the words.

                Asla nodded, brushing a strand of her curly golden-blond hair behind her ear and lowering her eyes—one green, one blue—to the table.

                “Yes, it was,” she said simply.

                There was a pause, and then suddenly Kylie smacked her hand to her forehead.

                “I completely forgot to ask Charity! How’s Tyler?”

                Tyler was Charity’s brother and Asla’s son. He was two years older than Kylie and Charity, and Kylie had rarely seen him since he was often either at work with his father, or at school.

                “Do you mean in general, or since…” Asla trailed off, obviously not wanting to say the words, “since Amos’s death.”

                “Um… either. Both. Whatever,” Kylie stuttered, uncomfortably. It was awkward, trying to have a conversation with someone when they were both skirting around such a major topic like someone’s death.

                Asla sighed.

                “It’s difficult to tell, because I haven’t seen him much recently. He’s been staying at school for most of the summer. Even when I have seen him, he’s been very stiff and stony-faced.”

                “Hm. Reminds me of someone I know,” Kylie said quietly, but Asla ignored her. “Well, it was nice seeing you again, but I should probably catch up with the rest of my group. See you later!” Kylie waved goodbye and walked over to the table where the rest of the Guardians—and Charity—were sitting.

                After dinner, the group returned to their rooms for the night.

* * *

        The next day was alike to the previous ones, and a few hours after lunch, a new addition to the Guardians was welcomed aboard the Pegasus.

                His name was Kaleb Javon. He was a quiet African American boy from Colorado, with shoulder-length dreadlocks that often hung in his eyes. He arrived on the Pegasus wearing a dark gray hoodie with baggy camouflage pants and sneakers. Enrique and Jasper welcomed another male into the group enthusiastically.

                After the group had gotten to know Kaleb, the next day, shortly after breakfast, a new girl burst confidently into the game room, only moments after Airi’s announcement on the speaker.

                She was wearing a pair of overalls—the kind with shorts, instead of full-length pants—and an ice-blue shirt underneath, which matched her eyes perfectly. She was wearing gray high-top sneakers and a baseball cap of the same color. Her unruly red hair was pulled through the cap in a ponytail.

                The whole group was a bit startled by the girl’s entering without even knocking, and therefore it took them a few moments to speak.

                “Hi,” the girl said, a little breathlessly, as if she had run down the hall to the room. “My name’s Riley Rutnik. What about you guys? What are your names?”

                The group each answered in turn, and, amazingly, Riley remembered all of them the first time, and never had to ask what someone’s name was twice.

                And so, the day went on as usual, with more games, talking, movie watching, etc.

                The more time she spent with the rest of the group, the better Kylie got to know each of their personalities. Etha was strong-willed and kind. Terah was smart and bookish. Oralia was hot-tempered at times, but caring. Enrique rarely talked but seemed to have a quiet strength. Katsumi was quiet and mysterious, but not shy. She seemed to like being talked to, as well as talking herself, and listening to other people’s conversations. However, she would rarely make an effort to start a conversation herself and seemed oblivious whenever there was an awkward silence. Jasper liked to make jokes and was one of the most talkative of the group. Jennifer wasn’t always open or talkative, but she had a calm, quiet, kind nature that had a healing effect on many members of the group. Reina was extroverted, kind, girlish, and airy. Kaleb was quiet and strong, much like Enrique. Riley was energetic and outdoorsy. She liked going out on the deck of the ship every chance she could get. And of course, there was Charity. Though a bit more hardened and solemn from her father’s death, she was still the same Charity that Kylie knew from six months ago. The same caring, kind, plant-loving Charity.

                In the afternoon, Kylie was searching in one of the cabinets for a new game to play, when she came across a small, blue, box labeled “Get to Know You Better Cards.”

                Huh, Kylie thought. I’m surprised we didn’t get these out sooner. If we’re going to work as a team, we need to know as much as possible about each other.

                Carefully, Kylie removed it from its position underneath a few other card games and board games and closed the wooden door to the cabinet behind her. She held it above her head for the others to see, and called,

                “Hey, guys! What if we use these?”

                The others looked up from the games they were playing, and spotted the small, rectangular box in her hand.

                There were some disputes, but after Kylie made her point about needing to know as much as they could about each other, the whole group gathered into a circle to play the game. They decided to take turns asking the questions and go around the circle answering them. As Riley was the first to ask a question, she took a card out of the box and looked at it.

                “What is your dream job?” she read. “An electrician,” she answered, then looked expectantly at Kylie, who was sitting to her left. Kylie looked back at her in surprise.

                “You want to be an electrician?” she asked. “How did you decide that?”

                Riley shrugged.

                “I like working with electricity, and I could never stand having a job where I was at a desk all day.”

                Kylie nodded.

                “Alright then,” she replied. “I don’t know exactly what kind of job I’d like to have, but I’m sure it’d involve animals.”

                “Me too,” said Katsumi, who was to Kylie’s left. “I’d like to be a marine biologist.”

                “And I’d like to work with birds or insects,” added Oralia, then turned to Terah.

                “I want to be an artist when I’m older,” Terah said, blushing a little.

                “Oh, is that why you always have marker stains on your hands?” Kylie asked her.

                “Yeah, I guess it is,” said Terah. “When I don’t have time to make a full art piece or a sketch, I like to find an intricate coloring page online and use my fine-tip markers to color it.”

                “That’s cool!” Kylie said. “I’d love to see your art sometime.”

                “Well I guess if you really want to see it,” Terah replied nervously. “I brought my sketchbook and a few of my better drawings.”

                “Ooh, could you show us?” Kylie asked. “Only if you want to, of course.”

                “I guess I could bring them tomorrow,” Terah said, blushing happily. Kylie clapped her hands.

                “That’d be great!”

                After a pause, Jennifer, who was next in line to tell her dream job, said,

                “I’d like to be a doctor.”

                “I think you’d make a great doctor,” said Charity.

                “Me too,” Kylie agreed. “You’re so gentle and kind, I think you’d be an amazing doctor!”

                Jennifer looked down at her knees, embarrassed, as the others nodded in agreement.

                “Thanks,” she said.

                Charity was next.

                “I’ve already told most of you that I’d like to work with plants,” she said.

                Kaleb, who was sitting next to her, said, simply,

                “I want to be a geologist.”

                “And how did you decide that?” asked Reina.

                “I like rocks,” he replied. “I have a pretty big rock collection back home, but I had to leave it when I decided to come to the Academy.”

                “That’s too bad,” said Reina. “Maybe you can start a new collection once we get there!”

                “Yeah, maybe,” Kaleb said, nodding.

                Etha, Enrique, Jasper, and Reina were last to answer. Each of them said that they weren’t sure about what kind of job they wished to have.

                “I don’t know,” said Reina, when it was her turn. “Maybe I could be a potter, or an actress, or a musician, or own a shop, or be a librarian, or a nanny, or a writer, or a vet, or a nurse, or maybe I could own a wind farm!”

                “Wow,” said Kylie. “That’s a wide variety of options. And they’re all very different.”

                Reina nodded eagerly.

                “Yeah, but they’re all things I’m interested in!”

                The game continued. Kylie was the next to ask a question.

                “What’s your favorite color?” she read, then answered: “Pink.”

                “Purple,” said Katsumi.

                “Orange,” said Oralia.

                “Yellowy-orange,” said Terah.

                “Green,” said Jennifer.

                “Sunshine-Yellow,” said Charity.

                “Gray,” said Kaleb.

                “Blue,” said Etha.

                “Ice-blue,” said Enrique.

                “Red,” said Jasper.

                “Lavender,” said Reina.

                “Pale yellow, or electric blue,” said Riley.

                It was Katsumi’s turn to read the card.

                “Who do you look up to?” she read. “My father.”

                “My cousins,” said Oralia.

                “My friends,” said Terah.

                “My parents,” said Jennifer.

                “My mother,” said Charity.

                “My uncle,” said Kaleb.

                “My aunt,” said Etha.

                “My parents,” said Enrique.

                “My brother,” said Jasper.

                “My sister,” said Reina.

                “My mom,” said Riley.

                Kylie was last when she said,

                “Charity.”

                “Aww,” said Charity. She placed her hand over her heart, touched.

                Oralia was next to read the question.

                “If you could have any one superpower, which power would you choose?” she asked. “Mine would be flight.”

                “To transform into any animal,” said Terah.

                “The power to control plants,” said Jennifer.

                “The ability to touch any plant and know immediately what kind of plant it was, and what properties it had,” Charity answered.

                “Ooh, that’s a cool one,” Kylie said.

                “Thanks,” Charity smiled. “You’re next, Kaleb.”

                “My power would be to control stone,” answered Kaleb.

                “To control water,” said Etha.

                “To control ice or snow,” said Enrique.

                “To control fire,” said Jasper.

                “I’d like to control wind or air,” Reina said.

                “I think controlling electricity or light would be cool,” said Riley.

                “Same as Oralia,” said Kylie. “I’d like flight as my power, too.”

                “I’d like the power to speak to aquatic animals,” said Katsumi.

                “Why just aquatic animals?” asked Reina.

                “I don’t think I’d like to hear what dogs have to say, or squirrels for that matter.”

                Jasper pressed a hand to his chest, as if stabbed.

                “Isn’t that a little cruel to the dogs?”

                Katsumi raised her hands in an “I don’t know, and I don’t care very much” gesture.

                “I just think that whales or dolphins would have more interesting things to say than most land animals.”

                “Don’t you think dogs and dolphins would have similar personalities, though?”

                “No, where you live can greatly change your perspective and your personality,” Katsumi answered, shaking her head.

                “Alright, I guess that’s a good point,” Jasper said, reluctantly.

                And so, the game went on, and as more questions were asked and answered, so the group’s bond grew stronger as they learned more about each other. As the day continued, the new Academy students felt less and less like a bunch of kids stuck together in a room, and more like a group of true friends.