I rushed to Sylvis’ office after the game officially ended and the winner was crowned. Well, after I ate at the dining hall. I was so hungry all of a sudden. Without realizing it, I had ordered an egg. Darn you, Rosalie!

  After I scarfed my food down at record speed, it was time to find Sylvis. Unsurprisingly, Rosalie was also in the office. I wonder if she had seen me coming?

  “So, did your magic awaken?” Sylvis curled her fingers into each other as she placed her hands eloquently on her desk. The look in her eyes told me she already knew my answer.

  I nodded my hand, summoning a yellow butterfly made of light in my hands to parallel the flower she had made for me when I first arrived. It ascended and flew around the room before landing on her nose, causing her to giggle. “But how did you know?” I asked. “Did Rosalie tell you?”

  “Marge, actually. She had a vision yesterday during our little tea party. After what Rosalie said, she was worried that if you heard her prediction, your magic wouldn’t awaken, so she told me privately.”

  So it was Marge…

  “Can I go home now?” I asked.

  “So eager.” Sylvis grasped at the butterfly, causing it to disappear. “Your magic just awakened today. Give it another week and then we’ll talk.”

  “Another week?!” I clenched my fists. “I’ve been stuck here for over a month! I think I’ve waited long enough! Every day I’m here is another day my family is worried about me.”

  Sylvis frowned, her eyes staring directly into mine. The sparkle they once held completely vanished as if she were empathizing with me. “I know how you feel. And I know how they feel as well. It’s not my intention to cause you or them more suffering. My intention is to prevent future suffering. What if you don’t have as much control over your magic as you think, and it gets out of hand again? Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen by monitoring your magic over the next few days.”

  I couldn’t argue with that… Sylvis always was more levelheaded about this than I was. “All right.” I forced a small smile.

  “Thank you for understanding.” Sylvis smiled at me; her smile was genuine, unlike mine.

  “Nice eyes,” Rosalie mentioned out of nowhere from her corner by the bookshelf.

  “O-Oh, thank you.” I looked away sheepishly.

  “Yes, it’s a sign your magic has fully awakened now.” Sylvis nodded at me.

  I nodded in acknowledgment before taking my leave. With nothing else to discuss, there wasn’t much point in sticking around.

  I opened the door and quickly closed it once I reached the other side. I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief—I’d be going home soon. When I opened them, I realized Finn had been standing there the whole time.

  “O-Oh, hi, Finn.” I blushed, having been unexpectedly watched. That was embarrassing.

  “I thought I might find you here. I’ll admit, it’s a little weird not being able to read your mind anymore. Since we’re not fighting, think you can let me back in?” He scratched the back of his head.

  “You wish.” I crossed my arms, smirking at him. My thoughts were my own; nobody else needed to know them. Though I would hurt him by directly telling him that. “What are you doing here?”

  “Thought it was my turn to stalk you since you’re so fond of waiting by my door.” He crossed his arms, a playful grin stretching across his lips.

  “Ha, ha,” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

  “I wanted to… explain what happened earlier. And apologize too, I guess.”

  “Huh?— Oh, you mean during Magitag when you suddenly spaced out.”

  He nodded. “There was that group of people rushing at us and… I could hear their thoughts. All of them.”

  “Wait, I thought you could only hear so many thoughts at once?” I narrowed my eyes in confusion.

  “That’s usually the case, yes. But since then… I can hear more thoughts at once. And they’re louder. I teased you earlier about not being able to read your mind… But it’s actually relieving to be able to talk to someone in peace like this.”

  “What do you think caused it?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, but it happened right before your magic awakened. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

  “What are you talking about?” I hadn’t even realized Aidan had joined us. He shoved his hands into his pockets as his gaze shifted between me and Finn.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, completely changing the subject. Was I that popular today? Then again, I had just gotten my magic.

  “I-I was, uh, hoping you could maybe show me your magic…?” He was so shy it was cute!

  “Of course!” I beamed.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “This I’ve gotta see.” Maverick appeared next to us. He draped his arm over Aidan’s shoulder, effectively holding him in place as Aidan froze in terror. I thought his eyes would actually pop out of their sockets. Just what had he done to poor Aidan that day?

  “Where did you come from,” I mumbled, knowing he probably wouldn’t answer me anyway.

  Finn’s head suddenly swiveled towards the elevator at the speed of light. I turned my head in that direction and saw Zephyr standing inside, staring at us before the doors closed.

  Finn was about to take off running in that direction when Maverick clamped his hand on his shoulder. “Leave him,” Maverick murmured loud enough for me to hear.

  “You don’t understand!” Finn tried to pry himself out of Maverick’s grip.

  Maverick backed off, his hands placed up in the air defensively. “Clearly, I misunderstood.”

  A pissed-off Finn ran toward the elevator, waiting for it to open. He looked so bothered… What did Zephyr do? Or rather, what was he thinking?

  "We should go somewhere else. I don't think Sylvis would be too happy if we burned down her door." Maverick smirked at us before teleporting us to the outdoor arena.

  The sun had started to set a half hour ago, and it was already dark from the rain clouds that had just passed over. There was a pretty heavy downpour after the game of Magitag that left me soaking wet for a while. I hadn't figured out how to teleport, so I had to book it back inside. Thankfully, I did manage to use magic to dry myself off.

  The smell of rain always made me feel more invigorated — more free. It was exactly what I needed to refuel my magic.

  Maverick's and Aidan's gazes were on me, leaving me slightly nervous. Maverick was leaning against a tree, his arms crossed, and his smirk told me he expected a show while simultaneously expecting me to fail. Aidan, on the other hand, was balanced on the heels of his feet as he crouched over, his eyes lit up in excitement. I guess I shouldn't disappoint, huh? But what to start with?

  I turned around and closed my eyes, focusing my energy on my magic. I released a bunch of light butterflies into the sky, similar to what I had shown Sylvis earlier. I turned around to see Aidan absolutely mesmerized while Maverick gave me a nod of approval, but I could tell he was left wanting more.

  I made a circle with my hand reaching from above my head, down to my stomach, leaving a trail of fire as my hand moved. It disappeared in a burst of flame, nearly singeing my hair in the process. Aidan clapped for me while Maverick rolled his eyes.

  "Not impressed?" I crossed my arms, a bit annoyed by the twin-colored-eyed freak.

  Maverick frowned. "Not really. I'm sure even Aidan could pull off that last one."

  "Fine. What did you have in mind?" If he wanted a show, I'd give it to him. If he wanted me to prove myself, I would do that too.

  "Something worthy of an Ethereal." He smirked before materializing a sword and tossing it to me. I managed to catch the hilt in both hands. Gee, could've killed me!

  I twisted the sword around, getting a good view of its shape and weight. It was a light one-handed sword, obviously meant for training rather than doing actual damage. ...Though I imagine that changes when you imbue it with magic. I glanced up at Maverick, who was holding a sword of his own. Surprisingly, he hadn't imbued his with anything, unlike Finn.

  "No teleporting." I wanted to get that out of the way first. I couldn't even teleport myself to Sylvis' office — there was no way I'd be able to keep up with him.

  "If I must," he whined. He stood in position, obviously waiting for me to make the first move. It was obviously a trap, but I knew he was far too stubborn for me to just wait him out. Sighing, I dashed towards him as fast as I could, hoping to catch him off guard.

  Instead, he caught me off guard. A wave of water pushed me back before he froze me in place with ice. I could still see his stupid smirk through the iced-over water. He was slowly approaching me, and I didn't want to know what his next step in this plan was. I ignited fire around me, melting the ice that encapsulated me. He looked pleasantly surprised.

  Using my right foot, I launched myself towards him, my sword just missing him as he dodged to the left. I quickly recovered by landing on my left foot, turned to face him, and thrust my sword at him, all with a speed I hadn't previously possessed.

  He rapidly dodged my strikes back and forth before sending a shockwave at me, knocking me back.

  "Ouch..." I pushed myself off the ground, blinking the tears back from the pain. My back felt like it had shattered into a million pieces. My arms and legs were both pulsating as if nerves and cells were twitching inside, unable to slow, causing excruciating pain and tingling.

  "Ella!" Aidan tried to rush over to me, but Maverick extended his sword in front of him, blocking him from reaching me. The breeze created by this motion caused Aidan’s hair to sway a bit, something I'm sure I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't lying down, unable to move.

  "Is that really all you can do?" Maverick cooed, the amusement in his eyes crushed me. "Maybe I should tell Sylvis you aren't ready to go home." His voice was dangerously low and teasing.

  I clenched my teeth from the anger now coursing through me as well as the pain of suddenly sitting up. Think, Elaina! You're an Ethereal! You can use the Talents of everyone else! Maybe even Talents you haven't seen!

  But what would be useful in this situation? He dodges so effortlessly. He's always one step ahead of me... It's like he always knows what my next move is.

  ...So, what if there were more of me? I closed my eyes and focused on duplicating myself. I was able to create four clones before a choking sensation came over me. It felt like I had the wind knocked out of me, and I was asphyxiating. No — not yet!

  I ordered one clone to attack with fire as another summoned a bolt of lightning. Me and the other two charged forward with our swords.

  Maverick's gaze shifted between me and the clones. He narrowly dodged the fire and lightning as he parried mine and my clones' strikes. He managed to dissipate a clone with wind, and the other he stabbed his sword straight through. So, these clones are weaker than I thought...

  I wasn't going to win. Not at this rate, anyway. I had one clone grab Maverick's leg as another grabbed the opposite arm, hoping I could keep him off balance as I swiped at him with my sword. Of course, he just managed to duck before setting both clones on fire.

  It was back to just the two of us.

  "I didn't expect you to clone yourself. That must have taken a lot of ether." He looked at me with an unreadable expression. I couldn't tell if he was trying to unsettle me or if he was genuinely concerned. If he was trying to break my focus, he would've used his teasing tone, wouldn't he?

  "I'm fine." I shrugged. Good, he's distracted. I threw my sword at him as I dashed alongside it, kicking him as the sword flew past him. He grabbed my foot in the process, so I iced it over, causing him to let go. Unfortunately, I slipped on my now-released foot and trampled forward, landing on top of him.

  He looked at me with amusement as I tried to push myself off. He held my wrists down in place, keeping me on top of him.

  "W-What are you doing?" I asked, confused as to why he wasn't letting me get up.

  He glanced over at Aidan, and I noticed the latter's face entirely red; his fists clenched at his sides.

  I rolled my eyes at Maverick as he finally let me go. I stood up and immediately felt dizzy. Why am I suddenly craving cake and ice cream and cinnamon buns and...

  I toppled back over on top of him.