Forbidden Fruit

Chapter 18: Growing Distance

"That's it! You've gone too far this time! I'm putting a stop to this!"

I sigh at the scene unfolding before me. Stella and Flora are arguing... again. All this because of the plants Flora put in our room.

"Stella, what's going on here?"

Bloom comes into our room also.

"Flora is overdoing it again!"

"I'm just carrying out a couple of experiments. I've got an exam soon!"

"Huh! No kidding, you've been going on about it for a month! "I'm going to use the power of flowers to thwart the witches' evil spells!""

Stella then mockingly impersonating Flora.

"So? What's wrong with that?"

Bloom asks, innocently.

"What's wrong with that?! In case you haven't noticed, your room has become a humongous chemistry lab."

Stella bitterly spouts.

"Bloom gave me permission and she even said that she'll help me study."

"I've already passed the simulator test so I thought I could help out."

Stella frowns.

"Yeah, some test."

Now it's going to be an argument between Bloom and Stella. I should've grabbed some popcorn for this.

"Hey! I took on Icy, Darcy, and Stormy. It wasn't easy!"

"I know. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about. I know you guys are all a bit nervous."

"Don't worry about it?! You should see our room! I gave Flora permission to put her flowers by our windowsill because they need a lot of sunlight. But then, she spread herself out and put a bunch of her other plants next to my mirror!"

"Well it's normal, this type of plant feeds off of reflective light, so your mirror is perfect!"

Flora retorts.

"Onyx has a mirror too!"

Oh? Now they're dragging me into this?

"W-Well... Onyx is..."

"The plants don't like me."

I say nonchalantly. Flora feels like it's such a horrible thing that they don't like me, that I must be the most miserable person in the world because of it, but it seriously doesn't bother me. I'm sure it's because if it was her, then it would be disastrous.

"Fine! But you think this is normal?"

Stella points at the plants next to her mirror that are playing with her makeup and her clothes. Their argument is not going to end any time soon. I would stick around for the rest of it, but I have some important things to research for the simulation test.

"I'm heading to the library, everyone. Oh, and Flora, the plant that you left on my night table over there died. I think it died of fright or something. Sorry about that."

"Oh no!"

I leave the dorm while Flora goes to take care of the dead plant. I feel bad about it, but I did warn her that it was a bad idea to leave it there. There was apparently no other place to put it, so she didn't have much of a choice.

When I get to the library, I head straight to the room containing the section about dark magic. Since Professor Palladium gave me the permission to use it, I haven't had any problems with the librarian or the other teachers. I really do appreciate what he's done for me. Maybe it's that appreciation that I've been mistaking for romantic feelings.

I should just focus on studying about dark magic absorption. The simulation test is tomorrow after all. They finally managed to fix it after what happened. Maybe I was too harsh with Professor Palladium back then... It just pisses me off that we let the witches have the upper hand because he didn't trust me. Oh well, what's done is done. I'll just have to protect Bloom from whatever the witches are planning to do.

It's already getting pretty late. I should head back to the dorm. I then see Professor Palladium walking down the corridor towards me. Does he have something to say to me? Did he know I was here? He gets closer, not showing sign of slowing down. He's not even looking at me. We walk past each other, without even a word nor a glance towards the other. I see... So that's how it ends. Why do I feel such disappointment? I was the one who decided that I was done with him. That I shouldn't worry about him anymore... That I shouldn't get involved... Then why? Why does it hurt so much?

That night, I couldn't sleep. My mind was too preoccupied with Professor Palladium. This is not good. I needed to be rested for today... Especially since I'll be trying out something I've never tried before. Technically, I've done it before, but never to dispel anything. Like that time when the witches held Stella prisoner, I absorbed the dark energy rings rings that were holding her captive. The magic wasn't directly affecting her. If it was, absorbing the dark magic like that might've hurt her. I'm pretty sure if I kill the simulations, I'll probably fail the exam...

"Wake up, sleepyhead! Or do you want to be late for the simulation test?"

I rub my eyes and open them lazily to see Stella all dressed up and ready to go, smiling at me.

"Alright, alright... Just gimme a sec..."

With much more effort than it should take, I get up from my bed. I yawn while stretching. After getting ready, I head out with the girls to eat breakfast at the cafeteria before going straight to the simulation room.

When we arrive there, Professor Palladium is already in the control room, getting things set up.

"Ready, girls? Everything is up and running for the test. We even took extra precautions as to not let any incidents happen this time around. Who'd like to go first then?"

Like last time, no one volunteers for that.

"I guess I'll have to pick someone randomly again."

Professor Palladium then picks a random fairy who seems really panicky about going first. She goes on inside the simulation room after telling Professor Palladium what she chose as her test. After struggling a bit in the beginning, she manages to accomplish the task she was given. After her, some fairies volunteered and some were chosen randomly. Stella, Flora, Musa, and Tecna aced their test with ease.

"Lastly, we have Onyx."

Hearing him say my name startles me. He hasn't talked to me in such a long time that it makes me feel really nervous for some reason.

"What's your choice for this test? The barren environment or the witches' dark spell?"

The way he's speaking to me is so devoid of emotion that it catches me off guard. He never spoke to me that way before.

"T-The dark spell, sir..."

I can't help but stutter.

"Alright, you may go ahead."

I head towards out of the control room and into the simulation room. The environment around me then starts to change. I'm now in a city where witches are casting spells on the citizens.

"As per headmistress Faragonda's request and your different kind of power, you will be graded on both dispelling the witches' magic and capturing them. If you perfectly succeed in one of them, you'll pass, but barely. In consequence, the witches are much stronger than the Cloud Tower witches."

I hear Professor Palladium's voice. Maybe that'll actually help me pass this, since it's more doable for me to capture the witches than to dispel magic. To make it fair, they made them stronger than the witches still in school. That should be still good. There're only two of them anyway. I should focus on catching them first.