It took a long time for the others to reassure me that things weren't all going to shit. I was about to start legitimately panicking when Racer reassured me by saying that I was currently literally surrounded by some of the most powerful people in Ionica, and all they did all day was making sure the planet was safe.

When I did finally calm down somewhat, Skyal suggested that I should head back to my room and rest for a bit, as I looked very pale. I muttered that I always did, but I went anyway. Near-panic is tiring, let me tell you.

When I did get back to my room, I sat down on my bed. How were the others so calm about this, I wondered. I had to remind myself that this was normal to them. I mean, their job is literally to save the planet when it's necessary. You get used to impending danger.

When I finally realized this fact, I decided to do some studying. Ionican culture was, obviously, different from human culture, and now that I realized how dangerous this place really is, it might be handy to know a little more about it.

Skyal had managed to get me several books, in English, about Ionica. Quite frankly, I found them quite interesting, but Sky had made it sound like it was the hardest task ever and I'd better be thankful and yadayadayada. That's how I found out there aren't many books on Ionica. (Seriously, I thought, how do these creatures live?)

I quickly noticed from the Ionican terms (such as Solaris) used in the books, that Ionican was quite similar to Latin and Greek, although, according to said books, it was the other way around.

From what I read, I picked up that Latin has more grammar rules, or at least different ones. To pick an example- and I'm not a Latin expert, so don't quote me on this- there is no way, in Latin, that a word like "Solaris" could have a plural form like "Solari."

In case you were wondering, the Solari were the godlike Ionicans who ruled the planet before the defenders.

Another interesting thing I learned about was the biology of Ionicans (sheesh, I feel like a little kid telling their mom what amazing things they learned in school today). They are what you call energy beings, which is pretty much what it sounds like. They're basically made out of energy.

Their bones are made of a metallic substance, their flesh is solid energy, and their blood is blue. Strangely, I had noticed this fact before, but had never realised the significance of it. Lastly, instead of a heart, they have a source, stored in the source chamber which is about where a human's heart would be. An Ionican can only truly die if this source is extinguished.

This would make you think there would be a massive overpopulation, right? Well that's the best part: Ionicans don't procreate like humans do. That's because they don't have to. The planet does it for them.

It's a long story and, while I'd love to write out the whole thing, it would take me way too long and I'd just end up trailing off every five minutes. That's why I'm going to summarize it to the best of my abilities.

A really long time ago this guy named Solarinus felt like creating a planet. So he did. Or rather, he made a planet inhabitable. That planet was Ionica. In doing so, he became the core of the planet. Now, the core is the thing that provides the planet with everything, from energy to light (the planet doesn't have a star, like we have the sun, to provide light, so the core has to do it itself), but also the people. Whenever this happens, they pop up by a place called the Solarinus well.

Then they have to make their way through the surrounding landscape (they call it the Enascor Plateau) and if they do, well, they have to see from there on out what they're gonna do with their lives.

Well, that wasn't so bad, was it? One thing about Solarinus that I found interesting was that everyone accepts this as true history, even though, the way the books describe it, to me, it sounds more like mythology than anything else. Then again, I was on a foreign planet full of creatures made out of solid energy who all have powers while I, too, had powers, and the fact was that, for that matter, I shouldn't be more than mythology, either.

I got just about this far before someone knocked on my door. "Come in, but keep your mouth shut." It was my default answer to someone knocking on my door while I was reading. I'd usually just finish the page, then I'd put down the book and find out whatever the person wanted. Sometimes I wouldn't even know who the person was until I put down my book because I'd be facing away from the door. That wasn't the case this time.

When the door opened and someone walked in, I barely glanced up. This was purely out of a reflex that was extremely tedious and extremely hard to ignore. I had managed to get it down to the point that I don't see who's walking in, though. I quickly finished the page and put the book down in front of me. I looked up to find myself looking right at Racer, who was now standing just inside the doorway, but turned to the right so he was facing me, as I was sitting in a cross-legged fashion on my bed, which was on the right side of the doorway.

"Racer," I said, a little surprised.
"Stephanie," he said in the same tone.
"What are you doing here?"
"What are YOU doing here?"
"Uhm, this is my room, Racer."
"No, I mean, why are you studying? Shouldn't you be resting?"
"Studying calms me."
"You are a strange person, Stephanie Gray."
"I get that a lot." I shrugged, before a realization hit me. "Hold on. How did you know I was studying?"
"Because I studied from these same books."
"You needed English textbooks about Ionica?" He nodded and sat down on the chair by the desk. "But.. why?"

"Do you think I was always this amazing?"
"Ego?" I said sarcastically. "What's that?"
He ignored me. "I wasn't always a defender like the others were. I used to be human, like you. Before I came to Ionica, I just lived on the streets with my sis-"

"Wait. You have a sister?" I interrupted. Racer looked at me sternly. "Sorry," I muttered, but I don't think he heard me.
"You really need to stop interrupting me. But yes, I used to have a sister."
"Used to?" I said it before thinking. "What do you mean, used-" I paused when I saw his expression.

"Oh," I said, finally realizing what he meant. "I'm so sorry, Racer, I didn't mean-" I started, but he shook his head.
"Don't worry about it." He smiled weakly. "I've been over it for several centuries. But as I was saying before I got so rudely interrupted again, we lived on the streets. You try living on the streets of America as a few kids. We managed, but it wasn't easy."
I nodded slowly. "I know to be grateful for the fact that I was found. Unlike you, I was alone until then. I wouldn't have survived, especially because I was found in the middle of nowhere."
"Are you trying to tell me I was lucky that I wasn't in the middle of nowhere?"
"That's not what I meant, Racer."
"Let's just talk about something else now."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry, Racer. I'm just genuinely interested." I said apologetically.

"I know, Stephanie, and I don't blame you. But anyway, now it's my turn. You don't sound very British in the way you speak. Why's that?"
"You're saying I don't have an obvious accent?"
"I'm saying you don't use, like, some typically British terms. You sound more like an American teenager with the voice of a British girl."
"Oh, what can I say? I guess that sort of thing just isn't my cup of tea." I grinned in delight at my terrible joke and Racer's reaction to it, which consisted of him giving vent to a very, very exaggerated sigh.

"All right," I said, "if you wanna know the real reasons, it's very simple: I just read and watch a lot of American books and television. I have since I was little and have been picking up certain terms subconsciously ever since. Now I just sound like an American with a very good imitation of a British accent but doesn't know the average use of language of the average Brit."
"That you do."
"Doesn't surprise you I picked it up from reading, does it?"
"No! Just look at those piles." He indicated the two piles I'd made of the books. "If you are like most people, the stack on your left is the stack of books you've finished. That stack is bigger than the other one. There are like, 10 books. They're all pretty long and fairly hard to read. You've been in here for, what, 3 hours? That's about half an hour per book. That can't be normal!"
"I haven't read the entire books yet, you know? I read them by subject. I pick a subject, like biology, then find the chapter on that subject for each book, read it, and move on to the next book. I'm only a little over halfway through the second subject so if you'll excuse me, I need to go study some more."
"But..." Racer protested, as he was trying to calculate how long each chapter had taken me on average.
"Eleven minutes and fifteen seconds, Racer. Now get out." I stood up and shooed him out of my room. Then I opened my book and went back to studying.

Finished: May 12th 2017

Yaaaaaaay another chapter up! I'm really sorry it took so long, I just didn't know how to continue after the last chapter. I said I would continue the meeting but I had no inspiration to continue it so I found this solution.

Anyway, I need to go now. Let me know what you think and, uuh, see you soon, hopefully xD

Xx Rissa