Believe me, travelling through a portal was not in any way similar to travelling by any other mode of transport.

When I stepped into that glowing white opening, all I could see were sparkles floating in air all around me. One minute, I was at my home and the next, I was in an unknown place with two of my mysterious acquaintances.

"Welcome to Illusia! The Elite Academy is located in the middle of this famous city named Neodom. But today, you will be staying at Jenny's home, while the arrangements are made at the Elite Academy for your stay," said Josh.

"STAY? What do you mean by stay? I thought I would be going home by the end of the day," I was definitely shocked. After all, I was really hoping my parents wouldn't notice me missing.

"Pardon me. What is your name again? Do know that you WILL be attending your classes in the Elite Academy from now on," replied Josh.

My first opinion about that guy - he sounded way too formal. I doubted if he really was one of the professors in the Academy that he mentioned. But I didn't care about that.

I got to go home. I can't pursue my classes here. "What about my parents if I decide to stay here? Won't they find me missing?" I asked.

"Cathy dear, once you enter the portal, a replica of you is created and it replaces you at your home," Jenny said in a polite tone.

"Replaces me meaning how?" I asked with a confused look. Nothing they ever spoke made sense at first.

"Based on your activities so far, your replica will have the ability to take decisions like you do in any situation," she explained.

"And my parents won't know that it is not me?" I was really finding it hard to believe how any parent would not be able to distinguish their real daughter from the replica.

"They won't be able to find the difference. It imitates you too well that even you will be surprised. These replicas are created out of magnificent powers," Jenny said.

"So you mean, I can't meet my parents now and say about all this to them? Do I really have to keep them in the dark?" I asked with a troubled look on my face.

"Not for long. Think about it. What if they freak out learning that you have got powers? And you won't be able to learn to control your powers in your place. Without proper control, these powers are extremely dangerous," said Josh.

I didn't know how to react. Seeing me Jenny replied in a sweet voice, "Oh, don't you worry. You will get to tell them the truth soon enough."

I simply nodded. They always had a point. I am not sure how my family will react when they get to know that I have got powers. But what exactly is my power? Will I ever learn to control them? With a lot of questions pestering my mind, I decided to stay there a little longer.

Then as my mind calmed down a bit, I turned around to have a look at my surroundings. We stepped out of the building, where we had arrived after travelling through the portal. That building was small consisting of only a single room and guarded by a single security guard, who waved at us as we came out of it.

"What is this building?" I asked.

They both shared a look as if thinking whether to share the information with me. At last Josh said, "This building is owned by the Elite Academy and is used for the purpose of portal travels."

"Okay," I replied. But nothing was clear from what he said. It was maybe because I lacked the basic idea of what a portal meant or what that ball was, that he threw at our bird cage to open a portal. Something told me that I would get my answers soon, but not now.

So I just concentrated on the road ahead. We continued on a pathway, which seemed to me, as if we were walking on a road, built in the centre of a lawn. There were lots of trees on either side of the road and the area itself was much greener than any other place I had ever seen before. On the farthest left, I saw a huge stretch of mountains. The sky was bright with pure white clouds passing overhead.

After few minutes of walking, I noticed that the road grew wider. Then we came across the erected buildings, cabs, buses and a lot of busy people. That place didn't seem so different after all. It resembled a city with people busily starting their morning works.

"So, this place is Illusia? Where exactly is it? Why did we use a portal to come here?" I asked.

"Well, this place is Neodom, a major city in Illusia. And Illusia is not a country or a place in your world. This is just another world which coexists with your world, but is in a different dimension compared to yours. The only way to link both the worlds is with the help of a portal," answered Josh.

"Illusia is a separate world? I didn't know that such a place ever existed," I was confused. I am in a different world right now!

"That is because, it has been kept as a secret from common people, or commoners as we call them, to ensure the stability of both the worlds," replied Jenny.

"Do all the people here have powers?" I asked her.

"Yes. Everyone has powers. But it differs," answered Jenny.

"I am not from around here, then why do I have it?" I asked.

"Someone has powers only if it is present in their bloodline. Maybe your parents or your grandparents or someone in your family hierarchy had powers. Maybe they decided to leave Illusia for some reasons. Transfers are not uncommon in Illusia," said Josh.

"So you are suggesting that my parents are transfers. But I have never seen them use any kind of power," I said.

"I am not suggesting that. I just said that someone in your family hierarchy had power. These powers may sometimes skip a generation or two. So it is possible that your parents didn't have any," said Josh.

Our conversation was interrupted by the ringing noise of a mobile. Josh excused himself and walked a few steps away from us to answer it.

When he came back, he had smile on his face and he looked straight at me and said, "Change of plans. It seems that arrangements for your stay are made and you will be staying in the Academy starting from tonight."

I nodded, but I thought that it would have been nice to have stayed at Jenny's home. At least I would have known someone. We hired a cab.

It seemed that the destination was too far, that Josh asked the driver to stop the cab to have lunch at a place named, 'The Rainbow Restaurant'.

Once we entered the restaurant, I found out why it got its name. It had a rainbow in each and every table. A table had two or four chairs around it. The rainbow began at the first chair and ended at the opposite one. We took a table with four chairs. After we took our seats, it appeared as if a rainbow passed just over our heads. The place just seemed so magical. We had steaks for our lunch.

As I was having my food, I noticed that the seat next to ours was occupied by an old man and a young boy, who seemed a little older than me. They resembled each other. They looked more like granddad and grandson.

After they had finished eating, that boy quickly got up and waved his hand to the left. I saw that that the chair in which his granddad sat had automatically moved back.

I was startled. What just happened? He moved that chair just by a wave of his hand. From what I've known of powers, I bet he had used levitation. But I found it really weird to see it with my own eyes. This was just not real. Atleast, it shouldn't be.

As if this was not enough weirdness, the next thing that happened completely shocked me.

That boy raised both his hands up till his chest level and I saw his granddad lift up in air. They then started walking out. No, only that boy was walking. His granddad was floating, almost like a ghost.

Nobody around me even paid heed to what had happened. They all seemed so normal. Is this how Illusia is? Filled with freaky people and not even a single soul to point it out as freaky?

I turned to Jenny and Josh and found that they were eating pretty fast. So I started to eat faster too. If I wished, I could have kept looking around. But I definitely did not want to be the last one to finish eating. So I just left the observation for later and took the spoon and fork to continue my steak.

After I was done, we continued on our journey. And at last there it was.

The site was so magnificent and breath-taking. The entrance had a huge arc, which bore the name 'THE ELITE ACADEMY' carved in it. When I looked closer, I noticed that the letters were as if they were glowing with red flames all over them.

On our way inside, I saw a small group of students who were chatting and laughing. When will I be a part of a gang? Will I have any?

Then I looked at Jenny, who sat beside me in the cab and I asked her, "Are all the students here from a transfer family?"

"No, this Academy is a place open to all, including both the transfers and the residents of Illusia," she said.

"What do you and Josh do here? Are you both by any chance professors?" I asked.

She was silent for a few moments. Then she looked at Josh and both of them started laughing as if that was the joke of the year. "No," she said and continued, "We are students too. There are four grades in this Academy each corresponding to the years of learning. We are third graders. We were appointed as recruiters to search and bring the common children like you who have powers. Such children are referred to as the blue-blooded ones or the Blue-bloods."

" For most people, both the blue bloods and the residents of Illusia, the power starts to reveal in the age group of about 15 - 17 years. Once a person's power is revealed, our finders do an easy job of locating them. Then we do the job of recruitment. You are lucky your power got revealed now because this year's first grade coaching begins tomorrow".

I felt quite ashamed for having doubted them as professors. The cab came to a stop in front of what looked like an enormous mansion. Josh announced that, that was the girl's quarters for the first graders.

"You've got to be kidding me. This place depicts royalty!" I exclaimed. Jenny and I then waved goodbye to Josh and walked inside.