Woven With Blue and Gold

By Bharati Krishna and Samanvi Vitta

It all started on an ordinary Tuesday when Nicholas Douglas, the infamous school bully, decided to pick on Stan Stilton, a quiet and unassuming classmate who never really bothered anyone. The atmosphere in the hallway was tense, as usual, whenever Nicholas was around, but this time something unexpected happened. Alithea, the new kid in school who had only recently transferred to Falcon Middle School, decided she couldn’t stand by and watch this injustice unfold. With surprising confidence and a determination that belied her new-student status, she stepped up to Nicholas. In a moment that seemed to defy the laws of physics, she delivered a single, swift slap that sent Nicholas Douglas flying across the hallway, much to the astonishment of everyone present.

Before I delve deeper into this extraordinary event, let me properly introduce myself. I’m Kit Cunning, and I was a close friend of Alithea—or at least, I used to be. You might be wondering why I’m speaking of our friendship in the past tense. Before you judge, please hear my story in its entirety. I first met Alithea not long after she arrived at school, as I was assigned to be her school helper. It was at Falcon Middle School where our paths crossed. Alithea was unlike anyone I had ever met. Her appearance was striking, with jet blue, wavy hair interspersed with strands of pure gold that shimmered in the sunlight. She stood taller than most of our classmates, even for an 8th grader, and there was something about her presence that drew people in.

From the moment I met her, I felt an immediate connection and an instant liking for her. We quickly became friends and, over time, our bond grew stronger until we were best friends. Those were some of the happiest days I can remember, filled with laughter and shared secrets. But, as it often happens, happiness can be fleeting. One day, without warning, everything changed. Alithea received a mysterious message on her phone, and from that moment, she became a different person. She withdrew from the world, choosing to isolate herself with her phone as her only companion. No matter how hard I tried to reach out—whether through calls, texts, or even emails—she ignored me and shut herself off from everyone.

Her transformation was baffling and painful to witness. She avoided any interaction with living beings, and it seemed like nothing could break through the barrier she had erected around herself. Until, that is, the day she witnessed Nicholas Douglas bullying Stan Stilton. I knew that Alithea had a deep-seated hatred for bullies, but Nicholas had never dared to act out around her before. However, when she saw him tormenting Stan, something snapped within her. She couldn’t stand idly by, and in a moment of righteous anger, she struck Nicholas with a slap that sent him sprawling across the hallway. The force of her action was astonishing, and the look on her face oscillated between worry and fear as she glanced from her hand to Nicholas, as if realizing for the first time the power she possessed.

Deep down, I had always suspected that Alithea was not entirely ordinary. There was an aura about her that hinted at something more, something extraordinary. And that day, her actions confirmed my suspicions. Alithea was different, and her uniqueness went beyond her striking appearance or her mysterious withdrawal. She possessed incredible power, and witnessing it firsthand left me with more questions than answers. Our friendship had changed forever, and though I no longer stood beside her as a friend, I couldn’t help but be drawn into the mystery of who she truly was.

I knew it. I knew there was something different about Alithea. I just couldn’t figure out what. There were the small signs, like her hair, which looked blue and gold almost naturally. And there was her being able to almost disappear into thin air. But basically tapping the biggest eighth grade bully, and sending him flying to the other end of the hallway, that was what proved it. And Stan isn’t even like her friend or anything. I wonder if she has a thing for him. Whatever it was, I  had to find out.

All I did that night was research. “Can people have natural blue hair?” “Can people teleport?” “Can they tap someone and send them flying?”   All of the answers were things like superhero, supernatural, monster, poltergeist, demigod, and possessed.  That’s when I started to think,” Is Alithea even human?” But how is that even possible? I know I said I wasn’t her friend anymore, but I know that she had good intentions. I decided that I was gonna confront her tomorrow.

Alithea seemed… cheerful the next morning at school. That hadn’t happened in weeks! As angry as I was, I kinda felt happy. “Hey Kit! Come over here!”she called out to me. I went over, trying to ignore the bags under my eyes from staying up all night. “I need to talk to you. Alone.” I snapped, pulling her into the nearest girls bathroom, which thankfully was empty. “What happened yesterday?! You tapped Nick, and he slammed into the water fountain on the other side of the hall!” I exclaimed. “There’s something that you’re not telling me. I know that.”“Ummm…” her voice said shakily. “ There is something that I wasn’t telling you.” But just then, she got a notification on her phone. She looked down at her phone and started tapping at the screen, covered in fingerprints. “Oh, would you get off that thing for once!” I demanded, my anger rising. What I didn’t realize was that I was too.“Um, Kit, you might wanna look down.” Alithea said, wincing. I looked down, and my feet were at least two feet above the gritty, gray, bathroom floor. “How do you get down from here!” I said, panicking. “Just stay calm, and slowly lower yourself to the ground.” I didn’t stay calm. My feet slammed into the floor, and the floor started to crack. Alithea stared wide eyed at the air, then the floor, then me.“Kit. You can’t tell anyone what just happened right now.” Alithea said firmly.“Why?” I panted, still pulling myself together.“Because those texts I’ve been getting, they revealed a truth that’s been hidden from me almost all my life.”“Huh?” My confused brain couldn’t handle this. “ I don’t understand.”“I’m special in a different way. And so are you.”“What do you mean?” I asked.“Kit, I mean that we have superpowers.” Alithea told me.

Chapter 2:

“Wh-what are you talking about? Have you been on drugs, and what on earth happened to the ground?” I was sure something was really wrong with Alithea, but never did I ever imagine that Alithea would say stuff like that. As soon as we reached the ground.

 Alithea then said, “We have powers, Kit. No matter what you say, or do, you can’t change the fact. If we don’t do anything by the next full moon, we have powers for life and we’re immortal, and I’m pretty sure that you don’t want that, right? So now come with me, and trust me on this.” I looked at her like I would if a random stranger came up to me and asked if I could marry a cow. I racked my brains on what to say and said, “Ye-”

“Good, cause we need to go NOW. We only have about a month until we turn immortal, so time is the one thing we have the least.”

“How are we going to sneak out of school?” I ask.

“Easy, with your powers.” Alithea said simply.

“But I can’t work my powers out.” I say, looking baffled. 

“You just used your powers. Powers only activate, when strong emotions come to you, the strongest you’ve ever felt. Your anger was those emotions. Your powers are levitation, & making people see what you want them to.”

I was shocked. the ground split open, because of me? No way. I was just a regular kid who went to Falcon Middle. 

I must have stood there for a while, because Alithea dragged me out of the bathroom. We silently walked through the crowd, and blended in. Just as we reached the exit, a hall monitor saw us and said, “Woah, where do you think you two are going.”

Alithea and I awkwardly stood there until Alithea mumbled into my ear, “Use your powers.”  I thought that the hall monitor was looking at us as we were walking back towards our classrooms, while the real us were invisible. And apparently, that did the trick, because as soon as I was thinking about that, the hall monitor said, “Thank you for listening.” Alithea looked at me, grinning ear to ear. As soon as we got out I asked Alithea, “Now what?” 

Alithea just looked at me and said, “Now we teleport.”

“Where?”

“To, Australia.”

“But what about my parents?”

“Your parents know about this.”

“They do?”

“Yes, shall we?” Alithea says to me with her hand stretched to me. And for the first time in this nervous ten minutes, I was actually excited. Then I said with a grin on my face, “We shall.” And just like that, we were in a land, which had a sign that said, “Welcome to Australia.” 

“Australia?” I ask Alithea. “Aren’t your powers super strength?” Alithea just laughed at this and said, “You’re mixing up Percy Jackson with this. We’re not demigods.”

“Then what are we? Aliens?” I say to Alithea. Alithea just laughs again. The laughing just gets more annoying.  “Well, how am I supposed to know all this power stuff? I only knew I had powers about 20 minutes ago.”  I said, feeling a little hurt. Alithea kind of hugged me to the side and said, “Okay, I’ll tell you about our history. We are actually Egypt-”

“EGYPTIANS!!!!!” I shriek. Alithea, still on her calm side. She then said, “Okay, I get your excitement, but chillax. If you keep having outbursts like this, we’ll only get to the basics by the end of the day. So anyway…” For the next hour, Alithea goes on and on about well, us! Turns out, the reason why she was on her phone like forever was because we have superpowers because the gods are our descendants. After puzzling over this for a few seconds, I asked,  “Wait, so our parents are Egyptians?” This is the part Alithea was dreading. I could tell by the sight of her eyes. She was avoiding my eyes at all costs. When her eyes did reach mine, they were sparkly. “Alithea, what’s wrong?” I ask calmly. At that moment, Alithea burst into tears, “Kit! Don’t you get it? The parents you have aren’t your real, biological parents. You…You…WERE ADOPTED! JUST LIKE ME!” My heart stops for a moment after she says that I say in disbelief, “But.. there has to be some reasonable explanation.” I say, in disbelief. Alithea, still stifling, says, “It’s the truth, Kit I’m sorry.” It’s my turn to disintegrate into tears and sadness. I’m… adopted? My parents have always been so nice to me! Like… real parents! My mind was flurrying with questions. Why did my parents adopt me? Where were my real parents? But there was one question I was dying to ask Alithea.

“Hey, y’know, quick question. Why exactly do we have powers?” I kind of calmly asked.

Alithea paused before saying,”You’ll find out in some time.” We walked until we found this one place that was called “Jim the Pharaoh’s Pyramid Restaurant and Casino” What was that place doing in the middle of Australia? We walked in and the place was filled with people who were 40+, probably hoping to win some money. There was this guy at the front wearing a t-shirt with a kangaroo on it. 

Alithea leaned over to him and whispered,”Can I have a SuperGolden Pyramid?” The guy’s eyes widened and he motioned for us to follow him. He took us to a room at the back with some boxes in it. The guy’s name was Ethan, and he was a guy with powers too. He said he started working here and realized that this would be the perfect place to build a portal.

“A portal to what?” I asked. Both of them stayed quiet. Ethan opened this teeny tiny box sandwiched between two bigger boxes and revealed a keypad. He typed in a code so fast that none of us could figure it out. The boxes started to disappear and a sandy golden door replaced them. We slowly opened the door and saw people bustling around, mud houses, a few goats and sheep. And I can’t forget the giant pyramid in the background. We stepped in and the air was blistering hot.

“Kit,” Alithea slowly said. “Welcome to Ancient Egypt.”

“Eygpt?!?” I exclaim, “We’re zipping through the world as quickly as I flip through a boring textbook. And trust me, that’s really fast!”