Deltora Quest Fanfic~ The Arrival * Book 1*

Chapter 1: Book Week Presention

The sun was setting a beautiful orange colour before disappearing into the horizon, when Julie, a mother of two, walked out her house with her keys twirling in her fingers.
"Get ready, girls!" she called, walking towards the car. "We're leaving in five minutes!"
The two girls raced towards the car, pasting her.
" Put your seat belts on, and let's go!" she yelled on top of her voice, excitedly.
"Mum!" Groaned her oldest daughter, May, who was about sixteen years old. Her foster sister Amy, who can sometimes be a pain in the back, giggled. May fiddled with her phone while their drive to her high school. Since May had always walked to school, these are one of the occasions they used the car to go to school. In boredom, she stared out the window.

When they arrived at the college, they all were buzzed with excitement. It was the Book Week Presentation Night at their school; Cambridge Academy . Amy had just started her first year here and she was thrilled just to be there. The three of them had dressed up in their favourite book characters. May was dressed as Jasmine, from Deltora quest.
Which was about a man, a boy and a girl, who go on a perilous quest, to find and restore the seven post gems from the magical Belt of Deltora. Only when all the gems are restored on the magical belt, can the kingdom of Deltora be freed from the tyranny of the Shadow Lord or so the book says... May was a major fan of the series, who had the whole collection in her bookshelf. You could say that she practically knew the series off by heart. Amy didn't have a favourite book series like May, but there was one thing she did enjoy that made May cringe. Amy came dressed from a Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Their mother, loved joining in on the fun stuff and she came accompanied as the beast. May ushered them inside, while Amy pulled their mum towards the stadium where the program was held. They were lucky enough to get the back seats and as soon as they sat the program started.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Cambridge Academy's annual Book Week Presentation Night! We would like to welcome our principal, Mr Walter Montford, as he tell us more infomation of tonight's events" announced Claire, the school's librarian. A tall, cheerful man, who looked well-dressed, walked up to the podium and smiled towards everyone.
" Thank you, Claire for that warm welcome" Mr Montford replied. Claire gave the response of smiling and nodding back. Mr. Montford cleared his throat." Before we offcially start the program, I would like to thank you all for coming today. It's a joy that many people are gathering here to day, in cost to our hard work. I would like to thank the staff and students in helping out with all the..."

Mr. Montford's voice started to drain out of May's head, as she yawned. She hated listening to rep talks that took forever. It simply just... bored her. All she can think is about the things she could do in that time. As a matter of fact, you could say she was impatient, or just hated people who took their time. After all, she liked to be quick and get the job done. But to able time to fly by, she looked at the decorative ribbons and decorations on the wall.

Not bad... She thought.

"Once again we thank you for coming, please enjoy your time. But now for our main event . The Book Week Parade!" Everyone clapped loudly, as Mr. Montford finished his speech.
" Now first up, our prince and princesses characters!" announced Mr Montford, while applauding at the same time.  Boys and girls of all ages rushed from their seats to the backstage and soon enough, there was headlights flashing on the walkway; which was set-up next to stadium's stage. May noticed that lots of the girls and boys wore fancy pieces of clothing, as they walked gently and carefully down the red carpet and back. Everyone was cheering them on, while some were just keen on taking photos. Soon enough, Mr Montford announced the next group of book characters." Next up we have the Disney characters!" He said, loudly over the microphone. Amy and Julie stood and walked towards the front with some other people. Soon enough, they were seen walking side by side down the carpet. In the back row May was taking photos and cheering for them extremely loud, while watching Amy and Julie making up fabulous poses along the whole walk. Amy was shy at first as she was coming up front. But now she was crazily walking up and down the walkway.
" Next up is our animal characters!"
Amy and Julie came walking down the pathway all the way to the back, taking their seats next to May. When they sat, Amy hugged May tightly.
" May! May! Look at what they have us!" she squealed.
" What did they give you?" asked May, smiling softly.
" PRIZE BAGS!!" she yelled, waving her arms in the air. A few people, who were seated near them, looked at her.
" Hey, could you quiet down for a bit?" whispered Julie, placing her pointer finger to her lips. Her eyes were planted on the adorable animal characters that were walking down the walkway. There was hero characters, villain characters, king and queen characters and many more. But May didn't seem interested in them, or couldn't pick which group she wanted to be in, so she waited for the last group.
" And lucky last, our other characters. These are for those who have not had the opportunity to come up yet. So please be welcomed too". When Mr Montford announced the last group, mum playfully slapped May on the back. But May was stressing too much, and took it the wrong way.
" Ouch!" She growled, angrily. Her mother scratched her head." Sorry, about that. Just wanted to say that you to do your best out there" she said, smiling.
" Oh, I will" replied May, determinedly as she walked towards the walkway. She could feel the cameras flashing, and imagined that they were focusing on her. Even though she wasn't on the walkway yet. As she walked along, she noticed some men wearing grey long coats and dark grey hats and scarves, making their faces hidden like a veil. The way the looked at her was menacing in a way, since they were focused on her. They also looked like they covered all over in grey, reminding her of... No, she shouldn't be thinking of that right now. She was going to be visible to everyone soon, might as well tidy herself up. And that was what she did. Before she stepped into the headlights, she took a big breath and then she elegantly stepped into the spotlights and gracefully cat-walked to the end of the carpet.
So far so good, she thought silently. Time to do something challenging.
When she had reached for the end of the red carpet, she looked out to her peers to find herself looking straight at the strangely dressed people who glaring at her in a strange sort of manner. She couldn't see her family, and the strange dressed people were the cause of that. She sighed inwardly to herself. She balanced herself carefully standing in a steady position and thought she was ready. She quickly but swiftly turned her petite body upside down. Silence followed after that. Everyone stood with their mouth opened ever so slightly. May wobbled from the quietness, ever so lightly. She was struggling; for if she fell over it would be the end of her. Not to mention that she was still at the edge of walkway and could easily fall off. She tried to keep steady and stay calm and it worked. She grinned, feeling great that she could accomplish something like this in her life. For she had done the ultimate challenge. To do a handstand Jasmine could of easily of done. She quickly, but swiftly went back to her two feet and cat-walked all the way back. Everyone was cheering and clapping for her, while some still stared blankly still registering what had just happened. May could feel her heart beating so fast. She felt so happy, that she could jump the limp to limps of trees. But in her case, it was impossible to do that. When she was backstage. There was some teachers and older students dressed up as fairies and pixies, as Amy had said. On her way out, they handed her a gift bag and cheered her until she had disappeared from their sights.
As she walked down to her seat she had her eyes peeled out for the grey coat guys. But had no luck in finding them. She shrugged to herself.
Maybe it was all my imagination?...
But really, she felt devastation in the inside and Julie noticed that when she sat down. She placed a hand on May's knee, and asked her quietly.
"May? Do you feel sick or do you need to go to the bathroom?"
"I'm fine, mum" whispered May sadly, looking at the ground. Julie looked troubled at her behaviour. Amy noticed what was going on and whimpered.
"Was it because the fairies didn't give you a show bag?" Her face turned sad." If you like, you can always share mine..."
May held up her gift bag, and Amy turned back to normal. It was at times like this, Amy could get away with her childishness.
" Just forget about it and watch" said May, changing the subject. Julie nodded in agreement, while Amy moved on liked nothing happened.
" Thank you all for joining the annual Book Week Parade" continued Mr Montford." But now, feel welcome to walk around the school yards. While we finalise the score".
Lots of people came rushing out the door. When finally Julie, May and Amy came settling themselves out the door.

Amy and Julie stayed in the foyer to get refreshments, while May walked throughout the school yards in wonder.