The Storyteller (original story for Camp NaNoWriMo 2016; PG)

[AmericanPi]

The Storyteller
The revamped version of The Multiversity

Banner made by me

By: American--Pi

Rated: PG​

Spoiler: Author's Notes

This original novel (if I may call it that) is my project for the July 2016 edition of Camp NaNoWriMo. My goal for this Camp NaNoWriMo is to finish this story, or write 50,000 words.

The Storyteller originally started out as a story called The Multiversity, which can be found here. I originally intended to finish The Multiversity (write 50,000 words) for the November 2015 NaNoWriMo, and if that wasn't possible, finish the story during the April 2016 or July 2016 Camp NaNoWriMo. Unfortunately, as I continued working on The Multiversity I realized that I hated the project because I had no idea what to do with it. There were too many plotllines, and the whole project totally lacked direction and unity.

That's why I decided to revamp and reboot the whole project as The Storyteller, which is what you see here. This revised version hopefully fixes all the problems I had with The Multiversity: I've decided to focus on only one character, so that the plot is clearer.

Now that I have more of an idea of where I'm going, I hope I'll be able to hit 50,000 words by the end of the month. Without further ado, please enjoy The Storyteller.

Table of Contents

• Chapter One: The Backstory (part of this post)
• Chapter Two: The Dream
• Chapter Three: The Visions

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Shattersoul

Chapter One: The Backstory

My name is Autumn Astor. I was a girl who had everything in my life planned out. I was going to go to Harvard, get into law school, serve a few terms as U.S. Senator, and then run for President. I seriously hoped that I could become President of the United States one day - ever since I was young, it was my dream - but even if I couldn't, I wanted to make a difference in the world. Or maybe even the whole Multiverse.

Eventually I did make a difference in the Multiverse, but not in the way that I planned.

The Multiverse is the collection of every universe known to exist. About fifty years ago, portals opened up between the many universes. It was then that we found out that there were actually many universes, all connected to each other in the Multiverse.

I come from the Alpha Universe, which, compared with other universes, is rather boring because as far as we know my planet, Alpha Earth, is the only one that can support life. But even Alpha Earth has plenty of interesting things about it, and I am quite grateful for its relative peacefulness. Even though our planet always has some kind of war somewhere, at least the Earth isn't in danger of exploding any time soon.

The Multiverse's newest universe is the Multiversity Universe, home to a unique school and community called the Multiversity. I completed my college education there for two reasons - one, because I wanted to learn more about the different universes so that I could become a better leader. After all, if I wanted to become President of the United States, I would have to be familiar with all of the universes, not just my own.

My second reason for attending the Multiversity was a lot less based on my own free will. Essentially, the reason was that if I didn't attend, the Multiverse would explode.

Well, it wasn't as bad as that. But I had a responsibility, and I wasn't going to take any risks.

I was a normal kid with big dreams. Like I said, I had everything in my life planned out. Then I discovered that it was my destiny and duty to help maintain the stability of not only my world but also the entire Multiverse.

Whoa.

So, of course, everything changed.

---

When I was in fourth grade, my class was learning about the Presidents of the United States. Even when I was young, I found history to be fascinating. By the time my class started learning about the presidents, I already knew the names of all the United States presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush. I eagerly read books on the recent and not-so-recent history of the Multiverse, and my favorite place in the whole Alpha Universe was the local library, where I would spend every afternoon after school reading, learning, and doing homework.

I was a pretty smart kid. At the age of eight I had skipped a grade and was in Mrs. Edwards's fourth-grade class in Springfield Elementary School. In her class, I learned more about all the Presidents and what they contributed to the nation. It was exciting, but then I noticed something.

"Mrs. Edwards," I asked my teacher one day during recess, "why haven't there been any female Presidents yet? Or Presidents who weren't white, for that matter?"

Mrs. Edwards sighed. "Good question, Autumn. Women and people of color have had it rough since the beginning of our country," she explained. "Unlike men, in the beginning, they had next to no basic rights. It took hundreds of years for our society to get where it is today, but even after women and people of color acquired rights and protection under the law, the fact is that today's society is still plagued with inequalities. You'll learn more about society and how it has changed as you get older, Autumn."

"But I want to learn now," I said enthusiastically. "I want to learn about everything! And when I grow up, I want to become the first female and the first African-American President of the United States." I was practically bouncing up and down in excitement. "I want to learn about a lot of things so I can become a great leader. Do you think I'll be a good leader, Mrs. Edwards?"

"Maybe," Mrs. Edwards said encouragingly. "You know, Student Council elections are coming up, and-"

"I can run for school President?" I asked excitedly.

Mrs. Edwards laughed good-naturedly. "You can run for President when you're in sixth grade," she told me. "Fourth-graders can only run for Class Representative." When my face fell, she added, "But being on Student Council is a lot of fun! Since you're so interested in politics, you should really try it." She paused. "You do know what the word 'politics' means, do you?"

"Duh," I chirped. "According to the dictionary, it is the science of political government."

"You really are smart for your age," Mrs. Edwards praised. "Anyways, another reason why you should try running for Class Representative is that having student council experience as a Class Representative will help you get elected as President when you're in sixth grade."

"Kind of like how being in the Senate helps someone become President of the United States?" I asked.

"Yes," Mrs. Edwards said, raising her eyebrows. "How did you know that?"

"I read about it," I answered, "from a book from the library. I was interested in how government works, so I found some books with that information in it. I found out a lot about local, state, and federal government. Our system is pretty complicated, but I guess it makes sense. We need a division of powers, or one party will control too much."

Mrs. Edwards took off her red-rimmed glasses and polished its lenses with her shirt. "Autumn Astor," she said, her brown eyes gleaming, "you should know that you are the smartest girl I've ever taught. I think you will succeed in whatever you choose to do." At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of recess. "Well, recess is over. Let's go out to the playground and pick up the class."

"When and where do I sign up to be a class representative?" I asked, following Mrs. Edwards outside.

"More information will be sent home in the Friday Folder," Mrs. Edwards answered.

"Great!" I exclaimed. "I'm definitely going to run."

That discussion I had with Mrs. Edwards remains one of the most important conversations I've ever had in my life, because it was the one that kickstarted my dream of becoming the first female, non-white President of the United States.

That week, I impatiently waited for the Friday Folder. I excitedly told everyone who would listen my newfound goals: my short-term goal of becoming Class Representative and my long-term goal of becoming President. I spent hours in the library every afternoon, reading about history, politicians, and government. I began campaigning for the position of Class Representative even before the information on running was handed out.

"Of course I'm going to vote for you, Autumn!" my friend Lisa exclaimed. Me and three of my friends were having lunch together in the cafeteria, and I was politely asking my friends to vote for me.

"And when you become President of the United States," Lisa continued, "will you pass a law that says kids only have to go to school on Mondays?"

"But we need school, Lisa," I said. "School teaches us so many things! Don't you love learning?"

Lisa frowned. "I like art class and nothing else," she said. "If you have to keep school at five days a week, can you get rid of math and replace it with art?"

I laughed good-naturedly. "We can't just get rid of math. I don't like it either, but without math, there would be pandemonium. Besides, when I'm President, I won't have complete control over what kids learn in school. Because if I did, I would be a dictator, and that's not good."

"What's a dictator?" Maggie, another one of my friends, asked. "And what is pandemonium? Honestly, Autumn, you need to stop using such big words, or my brain will explode!" She pantomimed an explosion around her head and pretended to faint dramatically, causing all of us to burst out laughing. Maggie absolutely loves drama and theater, and her drama always made us laugh.

Marge, a small girl who was usually the quietest of the bunch, laughed so hard that she dropped her orange onto the ground. It rolled towards an unsuspecting sixth-grader, who stepped on the orange and sent squashed orange bits flying everywhere as he was walking towards the table next to ours. This made me and my friends laugh so loudly that Mrs. Reyzajpaya, the mean custodian, yelled at us to be quiet. But her voice was so funny that we just laughed harder.

What eventually caused us to stop laughing was the fact that Mrs. Reyzajpaya ended up giving us Study Hall for three days. Study Hall took the place of Morning and Afternoon Recess, and everyone who had Study Hall had to sit and work on something quietly in the designated Study Hall room rather than go out to recess. Maggie apologized profusely for making us laugh so hard that we got into trouble, and Marge apologized profusely for dropping her orange. Me and Lisa forgave them both. I, for one, planned on using Study Hall to plan my campaign strategy. Even as a little kid, I was quite the strategist.

I never got to tell my friends what "pandemonium" and "dictator" meant, but eventually, by the time Election Day rolled around, I got every girl in my fourth-grade class to say that she was going to vote for me. As for Study Hall, it took away some possible campaigning time, but I made the most out of it and wrote out speeches and ideas. My friends benefitted from Study Hall too: Lisa created several beautiful sketches, Maggie wrote a script for her future TV show, and Marge caught up on homework. So it wasn't that bad.

During my Class Representative campaign, I also excitedly told my family my short-term and long-term goals. They were supportive of my campaign for Class Representative, but more doubtful of my dream of becoming United States President.

"Sis, you sure you want to lead this messed-up country? You might fall and get hurt by many things," James, the older of my two older brothers, said. He was the first family member I ran into after my decision to try to become the President of the United States. James was shooting hoops in our driveway, probably procrastinating on his high school homework.

"Bro, are you sure this country is messed up? And you are not funny," I retorted. I was hoping for a more positive response from the first family member I talked to, and I was quite annoyed by James's negativity and by his teasing. When I was in second grade, I fell down the stairs after tripping over my other brother Neil's skateboard, prompting my brothers to make "fall" jokes ever since. In fact, sometimes they even call me "Fall" as opposed to my actual name, "Autumn", because they think it's a really funny joke or something. I get it, but it gets quite annoying after a while.

"And even if this country is messed up," I continued, "that's another reason why I want to be President. If I were President, I'd fix all of this country's problems."

"Hah, good luck," James said bitterly as the basketball swished through the hoop. When he saw my face fall, his voice softened. "It's nice to have a dream, sis," he said, grabbing his basketball and facing me. He tucked the basketball under his arm. "You're a smart kid. It would be pretty cool if you became President one day. I'm just warning you that it'll be hard."

"Don't discourage her, bro," a new voice spoke. It was Neil, the younger of my two older brothers. He hopped off his skateboard and stood next to James, holding his skateboard under his arm. "She never discourages you from following your dream, so you should be nicer to her."

I smiled. Neil, who was thirteen years old at that time, was always warmer towards me than James, who was often snarky and cynical. He and James both loved basketball more than anything else, but otherwise they were complete opposites.

James sighed. "I suppose you're right, Neil," he said, "but Fall wants to be the President of the United States of America. I was just telling her the truth. She doesn't have much of a chance-"

"Hey!" I protested.

"But of course she can try," James finished.

"It's true that there haven't been any female or African-American Presidents yet," Neil said, "but I think Fall would make a good leader. She's motivated and smart." He smiled at me when he noticed me frowning. "Alright, Autumn would make a good leader. It's hard to become President, but if you put your mind to it, you can do it."

"Thanks, Neil," I said, smiling. I jabbed James gently with my elbow. "You can learn a lot from your brother, James. And both of you, please stop calling me 'Fall'. Anyways, I'm going to go inside to do my homework and work on my campaign. See you later, guys."

"See ya," Neil and James said.

I hurried into our small one-story home and headed straight to the room I shared with my five-year-old sister, Ayesha. Growing up, my family wasn't exactly rich, but we got by comfortably. My younger sister was prancing around the room in a pink princess costume, wearing a plastic silver crown on her head, and carrying a fork. When she saw me enter the room, she stopped short and pointed the fork at me.

"Halt, intruder!" she exclaimed. "You may not enter Baby Pegasus Island! I, Fairy Princess Sugar Apple, will use my magic wand to chase you away if you take one more step closer!"

"Sis, that's a fork. Put it back into the kitchen, will you?" I said, exasperated. I bit back a snarky comment about Ayesha's three-ponytail hairstyle. "And by the way, you're talking to the future President of the United States."


"You're no fun, Fall," Ayesha whined, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm bored! Can you play with me? You can be the Licorice Witch!"

"I need to do my homework, Ayesha," I said impatiently. I never expected my sister to understand the significance of everything I was doing - she was talking to the future President, for goodness sake - but I had hoped she wouldn't be in a bratty mood when I got home. I sighed. This was going to take a while.

"Homework, shmomework," Ayesha said dismissively. "Can't you play with me first? I'm really, really, really, really bored!"

"Play with Neil or James," I said, walking over to my desk and putting my red backpack onto the floor. "I'm really busy. After I finish my homework I've gotta work on my campaign for Class Representative. You can stay here, but be quiet, okay?"

"I can't be quiet!" Ayesha whined. "I'm bored! And I don't want to play with my brothers! Because I haven't played with you for ages!"

"I played with you last weekend," I muttered, even though that was a lie. I was really at my wits' end, but I took a deep breath and calmed myself. "How about this, sis? I can set up the computer so that you can watch 'Princess Sugar Apple Saves Baby Pegasus Island 6'. Then can you leave me alone?"

Ayesha's face wrinkled. "Number six is boring," she whined. "Can I watch number eight?"

"Fine," I sighed, walking towards the door. "Come on. I'll get you set up." Privately I wondered how Ayesha even differentiated the different Princess Sugar Apple movies, because to me they were all the same overly sweet nonsense. Grumbling to myself, I set Ayesha up in front of the slow, ancient home computer and hurried back into my room.

"Finally," I sighed. I don't know what I did to deserve such a bratty little sister, and I was glad that she was out of the way. I began to do my homework, and I felt a lot better. Homework always has a calming effect on me.

"Autumn!"

I don't know how much time had passed, and it barely seemed like much time at all. But Ayesha was standing next to me with pleading eyes and the same fork in her hand.

"The movie's over," she said. "Now can you play with me?"

"But barely any time has passed," I complained. "Besides, I'm almost done with my homework. I just need a little more time. Are you sure the movie's done?"

"Yes," Ayesha said petulantly. "Come on! Let's play!"

"Ayesha, I need to prepare for my campaign," I groaned. "Can't you watch another Princess Sugar Apple movie?"

"No!" Ayesha exclaimed, stamping her foot. "I wanna play with you!"

"I'm busy," I said through gritted teeth.

"I wanna play," Ayesha whined.

At this point I was just so tired of dealing with my sister that I lost it.

"GO AWAY!" I yelled, loudly and angrily. "Go play with your brothers, or watch more movies, I DON'T CARE! Just leave me alone!!"

I was expecting Ayesha to run away in fear or burst into tears. She did nothing of that sort.

"Autumn," she said curtly, "If you really want to be President of the United States, you need to be less angry. Princess Sugarplum is the perfect ruler of the Ice Cream Kingdom. And she never yells or loses her temper."

I stared in surprise at Ayesha. It took a while for me to respond, because I was too busy being taken aback by her mature response to my rage.

"Hey, you're right," I conceded. I didn't even make a snappy retort. "I'm sorry, sis."

"It's alright, Autumn," Ayesha said cheerfully as she gave me a hug.

I looked at the time. "Tell you what, Ayesha, it's about time I took a break from my work anyways. How about this? I'll play with you for about thirty minutes, and after that, can you promise to leave me in peace to work on my campaign?"

Ayesha smiled. "Deal!"

The rest of the day passed peacefully. Ayesha kept her side of the bargain, I finished my homework smoothly, I started brainstorming campaign ideas, and I did quite a bit of research on government. During dinner, I excitedly told my mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma my short- and long-term goals. My maternal grandparents were encouraging and thrilled that I had chosen to pursue such a grand dream. My parents were encouraging as well, but like James they warned me that it would be difficult.

"Presidents have to attend expensive, prestigious law schools," my father said, "and let's face it, we're not exactly rich."

"Neither was Abraham Lincoln's family, and look where he ended up," I said matter-of-factly.

"He was assassinated," James pointed out.

"James!" my mother exclaimed in shock. "You know what Autumn means. Abraham Lincoln was a wonderful President." She smiled at me. "It's true that we aren't rich, but if you can get a scholarship to a very good university, we'll all be very proud of you."

"I'll try my best," I said confidently.

For the next two weeks, I talked to all of the girls in my class, even the ones I didn't talk with much. I made sure to mention that I wanted to become President of the United States when I grew up. I was well-known in my fourth-grade class of twenty-five students, because I was that smart girl who loved to participate in class and had skipped a grade. I even talked to some of the boys in my class, even though back then I was in a phase of my life where I thought all boys had cooties.

Eventually, by the time of the election, all the girls in my class confirmed that they were going to vote for me. They knew that I was an intelligent, articulate student who would excellently represent her class in the student government. I had less luck with the boys, most of whom expressed that they were going to vote for Apu, the other candidate, mostly because he was a boy. Annoyed at the boys' behavior, after a little while I stopped trying to get them to vote for me. I instead focused on writing and preparing my candidate speech.

On the day of the election, Mrs. Edwards had Apu and I make our one-minute speeches to the class. I had to admit that Apu's speech was really well-written, even if his delivery was amusing thanks to his accent. My speech went swimmingly. I highlighted the reasons why I'd make a good Class Representative, and promised that I would make our class's voice heard in the student government.

After our speeches, the students in Room 404 wrote their votes down on little slips of paper, which they passed down their rows for Mrs. Edwards to pick up. I fidgeted as Mrs. Edwards counted the votes, almost certain that I would win. I mean, I was a presidential hopeful. I knew that I was the best person for the job.

"We have a winner," Mrs. Edwards declared. "Our Class Representative is… Apu! Congratulations."

The whole class clapped for Apu, who smiled humbly. But I was in shock, and it was all my eight-year-old self could do to not fly into a rage. How could I have lost? Hadn't I done everything? I had talked to so many classmates and worked so meticulously on my speech. Besides, it was clear that I was the best person for the job!

I could feel my blood boil, and I was about to start shouting in anger and frustration. There had to be a mistake. Mrs. Edwards must have miscounted the votes. But then I remembered what Ayesha said. She was right - if I wanted to be a good leader, I had to be calm and level-headed. So I took a deep breath and slouched down into my chair, sulking.

The rest of the day took forever to pass. Everything seemed ten times more boring thanks to the rotten mood I was in. When school finally ended, I didn't move from my seat. I wanted to vent my frustration to Mrs. Edwards, whom I still believed had made a mistake.

Mrs. Edwards was carrying a stack of papers to her desk when she noticed that I hadn't left the classroom yet. She put down her stack on an empty desk and sat in the empty chair next to mine, her facial expression soft.

"Autumn, I want you to know that you did very, very well," she said gently.

"But I didn't win," I said bitterly. I glared at my teacher. "You made a mistake, didn't you? You miscounted the votes."

"No, I didn't," she said with certainty. "I counted very, very carefully."

"I don't believe you," I said, narrowing my eyes. "My speech was perfect. There was no way I could have lost."

"I still have the votes with me," Mrs. Edwards said. "Do you want to count them yourself?"

"Yes."

Mrs. Edwards walked over to her desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a basket full of little slips of paper. She handed the basket to me and informed me that the votes were in the basket and that I could take as long as I want to count them.

I counted the votes very carefully. I got eleven votes, and Apu got… twelve. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had lost by the margin of one measly vote? I recounted the votes, and got the same thing. I sat back, dejected and fighting back tears.

"All of the girls in my class voted for me," I said slowly, "and all of the boys in the class voted for Apu. I lost because there are more boys than girls in this class."

"Yes," Mrs. Edwards said, nodding. "You are very observant. There are twelve girls and thirteen boys in this class, including you and Apu, so Apu won by the margin of one vote. I'm sorry, Autumn."

"I should have talked to the boys more," I said despairingly. "Then I probably would have won. My speech alone wasn't enough to sway them."

"Your speech was excellent, Autumn," Mrs. Edwards said encouragingly. "And don't beat yourself up too much. You can always run for Class Representative, Secretary, or Treasurer next year. And if you do, you'll learn from this year's campaign. I'll give you a tip. In real elections, candidates spend a lot of their time trying to win the votes of people they aren't sure will vote for them."

"Is that true?" I asked.

Mrs. Edwards nodded. "Those voters are called swing voters - look up that term, if you want," she said, winking.

"Got it. Thanks for the tip," I said, starting to feel a little better. "I'll definitely try running for student office again next year." I nodded. "Next time, I'll make sure not to make the same mistakes I made this time. And I'll keep what you've said in mind."

"A good politician learns from her mistakes and keeps trying," Mrs. Edwards said, nodding. "Granted, there aren't that many good politicians around these days, but I'm confident that you can be one."

"Why aren't there many good politicians?" I asked. "What's wrong with our politicians now?"

"Many things," Mrs. Edwards said, sighing. "You'll learn more about the issues with our political system when you get older, Autumn."

I frowned. "I don't like it when people say I have to wait until I'm older to learn something," I said. "I'm curious and I want to learn now."

Mrs. Edwards laughed genially. "Well, I don't think I'm the best person to teach you," she said, "because there are many points of view regarding politicians, and I can only provide one of them. I would suggest going to the library and asking the helpful librarians there to point you to many different sources."

"Thanks," I said excitedly. "I'm going to the library right now so I can learn about-"

"Autumn, wait a second," Mrs. Edwards said steadily. "I just want you to know what else a good politician does: She accepts defeat graciously and congratulates her worthy opponent for winning."

"Oh. Sorry," I said sheepishly. "I'll congratulate Apu tomorrow morning before class."

"That's a good girl," Mrs. Edwards said, smiling. "Don't give up on your dreams, Autumn. You are a smart, capable girl who is more than able to achieve them."

I smiled broadly. I knew that it was going to take more than a small defeat to hold me back. Saying goodbye to Mrs. Edwards, I headed to the library, where I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and learning, as usual. The next day, I kept my promise and congratulated Apu for winning. I continued studying and learning about government every day, and in fifth grade, I ran for Student Body Secretary.

This time, I won.

To be continued…

 

[AmericanPi]

Chapter Two: The Dream

I was sixteen years old when I started seeing them.

The first time I saw Spring, Summer, and Winter was through a dream I had on a seemingly ordinary night. I was a junior in Springfield High when it happened, so I was really busy with classes, tests, and college preparations. One particular Tuesday in January, I went to bed past midnight, having worked on a particularly difficult project for hours. Exhausted and desperately needing sleep, I checked out almost as soon as my head hit my pillow.

I can still remember the dream clearly, though the dream itself was not a lucid one. I was not aware that I was dreaming, and had no control over what happened in it. However, when I was having the dream it seemed real.

I dreamed that I was standing in a hallway of a place that looked a lot like Springfield High, and yet had something different about it. The floor was covered with yellow and white linoleum tiles, rather than the gum-spotted concrete that I was used to. The left wall was lined with lockers as usual, but they were shiny, new, and silver rather than an ugly shade of yellow and falling apart. The right wall had a door to a classroom - I recognized the classroom as a Chemistry lab - but aside from the door, the wall bore a colorful mural that the Springfield High I was used to did not have. This was strange enough, but what was stranger was that the hallway was completely empty. Looking around, I couldn't see a single teacher or student.

"Autumn!" I heard a voice call. Turning around, I spotted three girls around my age coming quickly towards me. Two of them were running, and the third was sitting in a wheelchair that zoomed forward seemingly without any input from any of the girls. While I was in the dream, for some reason I totally knew who they were, even though in real life I had never seen them before. I didn't know their names, but I knew that they were my friends.

The girl in the lead was the one who had called my name. She was in the wheelchair - for some reason, she was moving towards me the fastest. She was small and skinny, and had pale skin, dark brown eyes, and long black hair. She wore a light blue T-shirt and blue jeans. A clear blue snowflake-shaped crystal hung from her neck as a necklace.

She was followed by a tall and muscular girl with tan skin, olive eyes and bobbed, shoulder-length medium-brown hair. As the three girls stopped in front of me, the tall girl spoke. She sported a rather fancy-looking yellow-and-pink blouse along with orange shorts, and a pair of sunglasses that rested on her forehead.

"Autumn, we checked, and everyone's out of the building," the brown-haired girl reported. "Now we need to find those mischievous nymphs."

"We should probably transform," the third girl said to me with a melodious, airy voice. She wore a medium-length green dress, which complemented her bright green eyes, along with white tights and pink rain boots. Her long, luxurious blonde hair was tied in two long ponytails. She smiled at me and said excitedly, "You know what to do."

I nodded and rolled up my right sleeve, exposing a silver bracelet studded with four colored gems: a ruby, a topaz, an emerald, and a sapphire. Normally I wouldn't be caught dead wearing such a flashy piece of jewelry, but this was important to not only me but also to my friends.

"We need to find those nymphs first, though," I said. "We can't transform unless we can see our enemy."

"Oh dear," the blonde girl sighed. "I suppose I forgot about that rule, as usual."

"It's okay," the girl in the wheelchair said. "Let's go find our enemy, then."

"Let's scan all the hallways and classrooms together," the brown-haired girl suggested. "We've gotta be together for this to work."

All of us exchanged nods.

"Come on, everyone," I said as I led the three girls down the hallway I was in.

We scanned the hallway as we walked carefully down it, keeping watch for our targets. Whenever we reached a door to a classroom, we entered it and scanned the classroom's interior. I don't remember how many classrooms we looked into, but we worked quickly. I had the impending dread that if we didn't find the nymphs soon, a lot more chaos would ensue.

"I can't see them," the girl with the sunglasses reported, closing a cabinet door in what was probably the fifth classroom. "Maybe we should check the main office."

"We have to find them quickly, though," the blue girl fretted. Her wheelchair rolled around the classroom seemingly on its own as she helped with the search. "The longer we let those nymphs run free, the more time they have to cause trouble."

"I wonder how many light fixtures have been chewed up so far," the green girl mused lightheartedly. She was peering into a trash can. "And I hope we have enough food for lunch. It would kind of be a bummer if the nymphs ate all the food in the cafeteria."

"That's it!" I exclaimed, straightening up from looking under the teacher's desk in the room. "We should search in the main cafeteria. Light nymphs can't get enough light and food, and the cafeteria has plenty of both of them."

"Let's go, then," the black-haired girl said, seeming to cheer up at least a little. She held out a hand, and all the cabinet doors closed gently without her even touching them. "The cafeteria is definitely a good place to find those nymphs. Lead the way, Autumn. You know this place better than us."

As the blue girl approached the door, it swung open on its own. I led the way to the main cafeteria, which I knew the location of in the dream even though it was in a different location than the main cafeteria I knew in the waking world. The three girls followed me as I ran as fast as I could.

Even though in the dream I didn't feel out of breath or anything, I was still a pretty slow runner, as in real life. My friends trailed a little ways behind me, trusting me to guide them to the main cafeteria. Along the way, I noticed damaged walls and broken light fixtures around us.

"They've definitely been here, alright," the brown-haired girl declared. She looked around. "And we should be getting close, right? There's more damage here than where we started."

"We're almost there," I said as I turned another corner. One of the entrances to the main cafeteria was at the end of this particular hallway. The double doors were on the ground, signifying that the light nymphs had broken in through here.

"Here we are," I said, slowing to a stop in front of the fallen doors. My friends and I peered into the main cafeteria. I wasn't sure what was going through the other girls' heads, but I personally was sure that pretty much all of the light nymphs were here.

I was right, but the situation was grimmer than I thought it would be. Food lay spilled on the ground, smeared on the walls, and strewn across the tables. All the lights were out, and shards of broken glass lay on the floor of the cafeteria. Some fluorescent lights themselves were shattered on the ground and oozing an unrecognizable liquid.

The light nymphs were everywhere. I had never seen them before outside of this dream, but I recognized them in an instant. The creatures were small, about the size of a cat, and looked quite like humans. However, they had pointed wings, pointy ears, and long, skinny arms and legs. Each nymph had its own hairstyle - some had very short hair, while others sported long braids - but every light nymph wore bright yellow clothes and glowed with an almost blinding white light. Some nymphs were flying in the air, some were throwing food at each other, while others were knocking down light fixtures. All of them were chattering or making obnoxious noises, which made the room cacophonic. With so many nymphs in the cafeteria, it was very difficult to see anything, and the lights were dazzling.

"Ah, I can barely see," the blonde girl exclaimed, rubbing her eyes. She turned to the rest of us, who were also by the cafeteria entrance and averting our eyes from the brightness. "Autumn, we'd better transform now. We're near our enemies, and you do have some sunglasses or some other gadgets that can help us see better, right?"

"I should be able to get some once I'm a Magic," I said. I brought my arm in front of me so that I could see the bracelet I was wearing, and said, "Alright, let's do this."

What happened next was just bizarre.

A catchy, upbeat tune began playing, and the three unfamiliar girls got behind me. The school hallways and the cafeteria became replaced by a sparkly space of light green, bright yellow, warm orange, and cool blue. I could feel the colors swirling around me as I held up four fingers on my right hand and exclaimed, "Autumn, Summer, Winter, Spring! The Magic's in the Season Ring!" As I chanted the rhyme, I touched the blue, red, orange, and green gems on my bracelet using the index finger of my left hand.

The tune continued playing as I rose up weightlessly into the air. The bracelet emitted intense rays of red light, and I could feel myself glowing with a softer orange light. The sparkly background morphed from multi-colored to entirely warm orange.

Without meaning to, I spun around, and I watched in amazement as large and glittery orange fairy wings sprouted from my back. My clothes - my usual orange collared shirt, red tie, and blue jeans - glowed and morphed into a billowing, pastel orange, semi-formal, sleeveless, and mid-thigh-length dress. It bore large, gold-colored buttons on its chest and a wide, black belt with a sparkly maple leaf symbol in its center. In real life, I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing any dress, much less this one. In the dream, though, I was totally fine with it.

A sleek red tote bag that displayed a wide array of buttons materialized at my side. My hair glowed and grew substantially in length until it bore sparkling orange highlights, and was done in a tall, flowing ponytail that defied the laws of physics. Finally, elbow-length, dark orange gloves appeared on my hands and arms. At the same time, tall, dark orange high-heel boots with black laces completed the outfit.

"Autumn Astor, the Magic of Technology!" I exclaimed as I fluttered lightly to the ground and struck a pose, standing in a wide stance and confidently placing my hands on my hips. A flurry of orange sparkles erupted behind me, and the background became a pattern of various kinds of autumn leaves.

The catchy tune continued playing and my bracelet switched its glow to an orange color as the brown-haired girl with the sunglasses took center stage. She rose into the air weightlessly, as I had done, and glowed with a yellow light as the background became bright yellow. The tall, muscular girl spun around as wings sprouted from her back. Her wings were also glittery, but they were yellow instead of orange and were shaped slightly differently than mine. Her casual clothes transformed into a a sleek, pastel yellow dress that bore a glittery and golden sun symbol on its chest. This dress looked quite different than mine - it was simple, tight, and short-sleeved, like an athletic bodysuit.

A flashy hair clip with shiny, yellow-orange crystals materialized out of thin air and fastened itself into the tall girl's hair, which sprouted two fluffy pigtails and grew shimmering yellow highlights. The girl’s running shoes grew into tall, simple, and streamlined dark yellow boots. At the same time, elbow-length, dark yellow gloves that looked quite similar to mine appeared on her hands and arms. Then the brown-haired girl's sunglasses moved on its own from her forehead to her eyes, and grew larger and fancier.

"Summer Rosa, the Magic of Light!" the girl yelled as she lowered herself to the ground and, like me, struck a pose. She put a hand on her hip and held the frame of the sunglasses as yellow sparkles exploded behind her. The background became a rainbow of various oranges and yellows.

So that's her name, I thought, glancing at my bracelet. It was still glowing, but had changed to blue. In the back of my mind I worried about the light nymphs and the trouble they were causing, but I couldn't see them at all as the sparkly space turned blue and the black-haired girl began her transformation.

The catchy tune continued blasting at full force as the black-haired girl's wheelchair rose into the air, carrying the small girl with it. The wheelchair, along with the girl sitting in it, spun around and glowed with a blue light. Glittery blue wings, which looked almost like pointy icicles, grew from the back of the wheelchair. The girl's casual outfit transformed into a mid-thigh length, strapless, light blue dress that was complemented by a light blue witch hat and a black, semi-see-through garment that covered her shoulders. An ornate, snowflake-shaped charm materialized in front of the girl's chest and attached itself to a chain that connected with itself so that the black-haired girl was wearing the charm as a necklace.

The small girl's long, straight black hair became more voluminous and wavy as sparkling blue highlights appeared on it. Her casual shoes transformed into dark blue, knee-length cold-weather boots with fluffy tops. The dark blue gloves appeared, and, like my gloves, were elbow-length. Finally, the wheelchair became encased in ice and gradually morphed into an ornate, icy throne on wheels. It had a large snowflake symbol on its back and looked quite grand indeed.

"Winter Wu, the Magic of Snow!" the girl in the wheelchair said determinedly as the icy wheelchair-throne descended to the ground. She placed her hands delicately onto the sides of the throne as a flurry of blue sparkles erupted around her and the background became a pattern of beautiful snowflakes.

I'll bet the last girl's name is Spring, I thought as my bracelet began to glow with a green light and the sparkly background space turned green. The final girl who had not completed her transformation rose into the air and began glowing green. She spun around as glittery, green, rounded wings sprouted from her back. Her simple, light green dress morphed into a very fancy one. Though the new dress kept the light green color and mid-thigh length, this dress was extravagant and frilly, and reminded me of a classic princess dress. A large, pink, sparkly flower-shaped ornament appeared in the blonde girl's hair.

A large, fancy, light pink wand with a heart-shaped top appeared out of thin air, and as the blonde girl grasped the wand, her two long, wavy ponytails grew even longer and wavier. Shimmering green highlights appeared on her extravagant hair. Dark green gloves materialized on the blond girl's hands and arms, and her simple pink rain boots disappeared. In their place was a pair of ridiculously fancy dark green high-heeled shoes. The shoes themselves only reached the blonde girl's ankles, but thin extensions from those shoes coiled around her lower legs like a climbing vine. The shoes as a whole were decorated with pink hearts, pink flowers, and lush leaves. The plain green ring on the blonde girl's finger grew larger, fancier, and brighter as the transformation finished.

"Spring, Princess of Dellenera, the Magic of Nature!" the very fancy-looking blonde girl sang as she fluttered to the ground. She assumed a delicate, bird-like pose as green sparkles exploded behind her and the background turned into a pattern of spring flowers on a grassy field.

That's the last of it, I thought, glancing at my bracelet. Its glow was now subsiding, and the sparkly background was fading, being replaced by the strange school hallway the four of us were standing in before the transformation shenanigans took place. I looked around at my friends, and I had to admit that we all looked fabulous. I pushed a button on my red bag, expecting to find some sunglasses for everyone, and I woke up.

I lay in my ordinary bed in my ordinary house, staring at the ceiling and not quite registering what had just happened. I still felt a little groggy, but pretty soon the degree of absurdity of the dream dawned on me. I laughed out loud in a confused sort of way.

What was that?

I had had a dream, that was for sure. I was safe at home now, I had school tomorrow, and everything was normal. I sighed and turned over, still smiling at the strangeness of it all. Dawn light was filtering through the blinds as I thought about my dream, amazed at how vividly I could recall it.

All in all, the dream reminded me of one of Ayesha's sparkly magical girl shows - those shows where anywhere from one to a group of ordinary girls take a ridiculously long time to transform into their magical forms so that they can fight the bad guys. I could never stand those shows' extravagance, cheesiness, and general girliness. Strangely enough, James and Neil - my basketball-playing older brothers - occasionally liked to watch those shows with her, even after they moved out of my parents' house. I even caught my parents and grandparents glancing at the magical girls from time to time.

I completely blamed Ayesha's magical girl shows for the dream I had, which I dismissed as a random product of my mind - which was all dreams were to me at that time, really. This perception turned out to be far from the truth, but at that time I just laughed and went back to sleep, sure that I would never have such a weird dream again.

Little did I know that this vision of Summer, Winter, and Spring would be the first of many.

To be continued...

 

[AmericanPi]

Spoiler: Author's Notes

I was on vacation for the past three weeks, so I wasn't able to finish Camp NaNoWriMo on time, lol. I still fully intend on reaching the 50,000-word goal with this story, though. I'm just taking a bit longer.

Chapter Three: The Visions

I thought that the first time I saw Spring, Summer, and Winter would also be the last, but I was wrong.

Three months passed after I had that first dream, three relatively uneventful months where I had no dreams whatsoever and dismissed the magical girl dream I had in the January of my junior year as a one-time event. And yet, even though I had no visions of Summer, Winter, and Spring, the dream I had where I first saw them remained fresh and vivid in my memory.

How am I still able to remember everything in that dream, even after all this time? I thought one March afternoon as I sat in math class, waiting for the bell to ring. I had handed in my chapter test early, but not as early as usual because the transformation sequence tune from the magical girl dream kept playing in my head and distracting me from doing the problems. This annoyed me.

Even though I still had a fresh memory of the magical girl dream, I never let it distract me from my studies. School was always my top priority.

It was mid-April of my junior year when I had my second dream that featured Spring, Winter, and Summer. This dream happened on a Friday night, which meant that, unlike last time, I wasn't stressed by homework or anything. I went to sleep pretty early - around ten-thirty - having finished reading a chapter of my copy of War and Peace, a book which I was trying to finish before I turned eighty, at the very least.

This time, I dreamed that Spring, Winter, Summer, and I were facing a ferocious dragon in a place that looked vaguely like a college campus, only it appeared to be floating in space. Instead of a blue sky full of white clouds, a dark expanse, dotted with stars and galaxies, stretched above me. The streets and buildings of the college campus were illuminated by artificial, electric lights.

The dragon we were facing was huge, and looked completely like a classic medieval dragon, aside form its color. The dragon had white scales and blue eyes, and glowed with an intense yellow light. It stood in a square between several buildings and swung its spiked tail, severely denting one of the buildings around it. It glared at Summer, Winter, Spring, and I and snorted, smoke billowing out of its nostrils.

This time, I didn't even hesitate to chant the transformation rhyme. Like last time, the gemstone-studded bracelet I was wearing glowed with differently colored lights. Like last time, the three other girls and I transformed into magical girls - Magics - though this time the transformation sequence was shorter. I didn't witness all the details of the transformation, only some of them, and the transformation actions that I did witness were sped up.

"Awesome, Autumn," Summer said as we landed on the ground, facing the dragon. "So what's the plan?"

"I can distract the dragon while you think of one," Winter offered, glancing fearfully at the beast, which was still causing a considerable amount of damage with its wings and tail despite standing in place. "Ow, my eyes! That thing is really bright."

"I have sunglasses for everyone," I declared as I pressed one of the many buttons on my bag. Reaching into a small pocket, I somehow pulled out a pair of sturdy sunglasses that did not look like they fit in the pocket they came from. I put on the sunglasses and pulled out another pair.

"Thanks for the offer, Winter," I said, handing the sunglasses to her, "but I've got a plan already." I turned to Spring and handed her another pair of sunglasses. "Spring, can you calm the dragon down?"

"I can't talk to dragons," Spring said sadly, putting on her sunglasses and glancing at the dragon, which looked like it would go on a rampage any moment now. "I've tried before, but I only seem to make them angrier." She frowned, and then smiled. "I can summon some animals, though! Maybe they can talk to dragons."

"Awesome," I said. "Summon some-"

At this moment, the dragon roared and, with heavy wing flaps, took off into the air.

"Summer, Winter!" I exclaimed. "Make sure the dragon stays in this general area and doesn't go destroying other places!"

"I'm on it," Summer said. She didn't need sunglasses from me, because her Magic outfit already had sunglasses of its own. Winter nodded, and her and Summer's fairy wings fluttered as they flew quickly towards the dragon. The beast spewed a fireball of blue flame at the tallest building in the area. Before the fireball could hit the building, Winter fired a beam of ice from her hands to the fireball, which turned it into harmless steam.

Summer nodded in approval, and then gasped as the dragon flapped its wings and began flying towards a tall building nearby. Summer waved her arm, and all the lights in the general area moved towards her, leaving the surrounding buildings pitch-black. As the lights in the tall building extinguished, the dragon roared angrily and turned around, flying in circles around Summer, who was now the only bright object within the square mile. The dragon spewed a fireball at Summer, but Winter was there to fire her ice beam and neutralize the flame.

Seeing that the dragon was at least temporarily under control, I turned to Spring.

"Do your thing," I said as I pressed a button on my bag, pulled out what looked like a shiny silver umbrella, and opened up the gadget. "I'll make sure that nothing can get to your or the animals."

"Thanks, Spring said as she began to twirl her staff and sing. I started looking back and forth between Spring, who was calling a small flock of pigeons towards her, and Summer and Winter, who were keeping the dragon in check. Though they were holding their own for now, I knew that the dragon would have to be calmed down eventually. The beast couldn't stay here forever, and it was probably only going to go back to where it came from when it was calm enough. The sooner it calmed down, the better.

I could hear Spring talking to the birds, trying to mobilize them for the task at hand, when the dragon began rapidly firing blue fireballs in all directions. I gasped when I realized that Summer and Winter looked frantic. Summer began firing her own light-energy balls at the many fireballs, and Winter continued shooting out her ice beams, both at a speed that I knew was going to wear my friends down pretty soon.

A stray fireball zoomed towards me and Spring, and I acted quickly. Flying towards the fireball, I used the umbrella as a shield to deflect the fireball away from Spring. I winced as the fireball hit the side of a building, which burst into flames.

"Autumn!" I heard Spring exclaim. I turned around to see the blonde girl fluttering in the air, surrounded by a sizable flock of pigeons, robins, and sparrows.

"I'm off!" Spring declared as she flew quickly towards the rampaging dragon, the twittering birds in her wake.

"Be careful, Spring!" I cautioned, following her to the scene of the battle and pressing another button on my bag. A garden hose extended from a small pocket, and I grabbed it with my right hand as a stream of water flowed out of it. My left hand still grasped the handle of the umbrella shield as I followed Spring, zooming closer to the dragon. I used the umbrella shield to deflect the fireballs away from Spring, and sprayed the burning building with the water from the hose.

The birds' twittering grew louder as we approached Summer and Winter, who looked exhausted from holding off the dragon. Summer's glow was fading, and Winter's ice beams were smaller. Both girls were less glittery than when they first transformed.

Suddenly, the dragon fired one last fireball, which Winter and I had to deal with together. Then it turned and faced the birds Spring brought, narrowing its eyes.

The birds began making various vocalizations. They chirped, cooed, and twittered to the white dragon, which listened as it hovered in the air. I watched in relief as the dragon’s eyes turned from red to blue, and steam rather than flames began emitting from its nostrils.

"Hey, Spring, what’s going on?” I asked quietly, not wanting to anger the dragon.

"It's working," Spring whispered back excitedly. "These birds are really calming the dragon down."

"That's great," I said.

And then I was lying in my bed.

I breathed deeply as I woke up from the dream, my eyes adjusting to the dim light of my bedroom. The magical girls from that dream I had several months ago had just appeared again, only this time I got an idea of their powers. I chuckled to myself, feeling a little confused. What were the chances of dreaming of the same strangers twice? And why was I so friendly with them? I didn't know them at all, and the weirder part was that in real life I wasn't that friendly with anyone. Sure, I used to have several friends back in elementary and middle school, but as we grew older we drifted apart and I never bothered to make new friends. I thought friendship was overrated anyways, because it was far more important to focus on my goals and studies.

I went back to sleep, choosing not to think too much of the dream. I had a day full of homework and reading tomorrow. Once again I thought I would never see Spring, Winter, or Summer again, and once again I was wrong.

As the months passed, I continued having dreams involving the three girls, and the dreams became closer together as time went on. Some of them were about all of us, transforming into magical girls, being friends, and fighting various monsters. Others, however, didn’t involve me at all. Once I dreamt that Spring was sitting in a tower made of ice. She looked younger than in the magical girl dreams, and she was guarded by a ferocious-looking ice dragon. I wasn't in the dream at all, and there wasn’t much to it - the dream just consisted of Spring, sitting in the icy tower and passing the time by talking to birds.

After the dream about Spring, I was seriously weirded out, considering that I had seen Spring in a vision several times already. But a few weeks later, I dreamt of Winter. This dream was more like a nightmare.

Winter was a bit younger than she was in the magical girl dreams, and she could walk. She was in a room made of ice, frantically pounding on the locked doors and windows as everyone else in the room, one by one, dropped dead. An old man was yelling spells and firing bolts of orange light out of his wand at the people in the room. The people dropped dead as soon as the bolts hit them. Some of the people tried stopping the bolts of orange light, but none of their efforts could save their lives. One boy conjured a forcefield with his staff, but the spell just shattered the shield and hit his chest, killing him instantly.

As more and more dead bodies filled the room - they were mostly around Winter's age, though I saw a middle-aged woman's body as well - Winter screamed, begging for the old man to stop.

I woke up from that dream in a cold sweat, my heart pounding in my chest. The worst part about the nightmare I had was that, in the dream, there was nothing I could do to help Winter. I could only watch as Winter tried in vain to escape from the room, terror in her eyes.

Another night, I dreamt of Summer, and thankfully this dream was a lot nicer and simpler. She looked very young - probably only around six years old. She was in an apartment, glowing and shooting out beams of light as three other people and a dog - I assumed they were her family - looked on and encouraged her.

As I continued doing what I had always done - going to school, reading, and doing homework - I pushed the dreams to the back of my head, focusing on the tasks at hand. I successfully campaigned for the role of Student Council President. I was already Vice President during junior year, but that wasn't enough for me. If I was going to become President of the United States, I would have to get as much experience as I could.

Senior year started, and when the year began I assumed my role as Student Council President. I was as busy as ever, with college applications and my presidential duties along with classes and homework. I focused on the work I had to do, and for the most part I was able to get everything done efficiently. But I found that, as time passed, it was getting harder and harder to ignore my thoughts about Spring, Summer, and Winter. The magical girl transformation tune often played in my head as I tried to focus on my homework, and sometimes, while I was walking, I would try to fly only to realize that I didn't have any wings.

One day in the November of my senior year, as I was watching a video with my classmates in History class, I looked down and found that, instead of taking notes, I had doodled an eerily accurate sketch of Spring's Magic outfit. It was really unsettling, because I was always a pretty terrible artist - in fact, the one time I took an art class, I got a C+. Grumbling to myself, I erased the drawing and frantically took as many notes about the video as possible before sighing, putting the pencil down, and rubbing my eyes.

This whole thing about Summer, Winter, and Spring was getting really weird and annoying.

The worst part was the daydreams, which started happening in early Februrary of my senior year. They weren't daydreams in the sense that I was staring into space and thinking about my nonexistent magical girl friends - I would literally lose consciousness in the middle of class and have a brief but intense vision of one or more of the girls. Once again, some of these visions included me and involved the magical girl transformation, while others were only about one of the girls and gave me an insight into the girl's past.

For a while, I feared that I was getting narcoleptic seizures. I had read about sleep disorders, including narcolepsy, in various science books, and my condition of suddenly falling into REM sleep - the dream state - at random times definitely fit the description.

Is there something wrong with me? I thought frantically one day as I was walking home from school. For a brief moment I feared that I would have to admit that I was suffering from a serious condition that required a lot of money to treat, and I would have to somehow get the money for the treatment, and even then I would be hindered from living a normal, productive life. There was no way that the future President of the United States could suffer from an incurable illness!

FDR suffered from an illness that was incurable during his time, and he was a great President, a small voice in the back of my head said.

But he died from the polio! I thought, panicking again.

From what I learned, narcolepsy was still a huge mystery to doctors and scientists, and there was no definitive cure for it. If I had it, that probably meant that my dream of becoming President of the United States was shattered. Nothing would be the same ever again…

No, I thought, shaking my head and taking a deep breath. I'm fine. I can still function.

I sat down on a nearby bench to think. I decided that I wasn't going to tell anyone about my "daydreams" just yet. I was fine. As long as I could still get all my work done, nobody would notice anything, and I wouldn't ever have to tell anyone about what was happening to me.

I mean, it's not like the visions happen at the worst possible moments, I thought, trying to assure myself that everything was alright. They usually happen during downtimes. And besides, they only last for a second. It's not like I miss any class or doze off for minutes.

It was true. Even though the visions seemed to last for minutes, every time when I regained consciousness it seemed like only a second had passed between me entering the dream state and me waking up. I never dozed off for too long, or caused any sort of harm to myself or others during the very brief daydream periods.

So it doesn't count as narcolepsy, I thought, sighing in relief. I decided to not tell anyone about what was happening to me, and continue doing what I was doing. It was definitely really weird that I kept having visions of the same strangers, but as long as they didn't interfere with my goals and functioning I wasn't going to pay any attention to them.

And I didn't pay any attention to my visions, until early March, when my English teacher told me the truth about everything.

To be continued…