"I love you," he said, but I couldn't return those words back...not yet".-Rose
_*_
As Rose chooses to stay back in Xenopia for Adrian (only for a month). Rose soon realizes that her stay is not going to...
"Conjure a glass of water for me", Professor Herlin told her, and immediately a small glass cup materialized in front of her.
In the beginning, nothing happened. She just simply glared at the cup with immense concentration as if nothing else existed or mattered to her except for that cup, and then I saw...or rather we all saw. The glass cup started filling up slowly with water up till the brim. A loud cheering from the crowd followed. There was a different kind of excitement that was building amongst the crowd now. They all wanted to see what the special Eldar blood was capable of.
" Good, very good", Professor Herlin told Kat. "Now, can you bring me some more water...in the form of rain?", she asked doubtfully.
"I... I can try ma'am", Kat replied back hesitantly. She was now nervous, I could tell because she was shaking top to down. Making it rain, would be too much of magic.
Kat closed her eyes briefly and then opened her eyes to fix her gaze on nothing specific. She just stared and stared but nothing happened. It was about a minute or so now, and the crowd behind me were all holding their breath together, not daring to take their eyes off her. As for one, I didn't even know, if they understood what she was asked to do. As Adrian once told me, these people were not familiar with the concepts of the normal water cycle, as like on earth, because nothing like that existed here. So, I was surprised by Professor Herlin when she asked Kat to produce rain.
Slowly the calm blue sky above Kat darkened and heavy water drops starting falling down to the ground, gradually increasing in intensity. "This my class is rain", Professor Herlin announced to the class, in a joyous tone I have never seen her before in. She was literally in happy tears.
"Well done, my girl. Well done", she couldn't stop praising Kat. The simulation was now put off, and the surroundings around Kat started disappearing, leaving her back again in a plain grey semicircular room. The celebrations went on for minutes after that. Everyone was happy and praising Kat in their own ways.
"Okay, Okay...I know everyone is excited", Professor Herlin said smiling " But there is more, are you ready Rose?", she asked me, expectantly smiling at me.
"Ye...yes", I replied back hesitantly. Could I do it? Could I pass this test as Kat did? Let's find out, I thought.
I started walking through the double sets of the metallic door thoughtlessly and entered into the plain dark semicircular room. " Are you ready?", she asked me, the words ringing back.
"Yes", I told her unsure.
"Here you go", she said, and immediately the setting around me changed into what looked like a dark dungeon. There was a small fireplace at a corner.
"Conjure some fire for me, Rose", she instructed me. 'Okay, you can do this', I told myself.
I briefly closed my eyes and touched my powers lightly, only so much so as to produce a small ball of fire in my hands. I carefully aimed the ball of fire at the wooden slabs placed inside the fireplace. The fire spread out horizontally and started burning up happily. There was a different kind of satisfaction which I got on getting the task done, as it was not easy for me. I had to continuously tell myself to keep my mind calm, and that's how I could produce a well-controlled fireball.
"Very good", Professor Herlin told me flaring with excitement. I could hear loud sounds of cheering, whistling and clapping from outside. " Very good Rose, now...", she stopped mid-sentence, as something else behind me caught her attention. I turned around to see the source of her distraction and was left bewildered. The fireplace I worked on just few seconds back, the small fire I produced was quickly spreading out. Spreading out widely, spreading out in a way that entrapped me within it.
"Someone turn off the simulation", I heard someone screaming from a distance. There were loud muffled cries outside. " Rose... get Rose... out", someone cried. The room was filled with dark smoke, which made it difficult for me to see through. "Rose!", a sweet voice called me. I thought that someone from outside had come in to rescue me, and so I called out for help, screaming my lungs out. The smoke started getting thicker and thicker until I could see absolutely nothing ahead.
Nothing except for a bright fire in shape of...a dragon? Yes! I was sure it was a dragon. A dragon... a dragon on fire that kept gliding towards me slowly.
Thoughtlessly, I started retrieving back, but something hit me from the ground and I fell down on my fours, with a loud thump.
" Do not fear me, Rose", the sweet voice said. Do not fear it? Was it kidding?
"Who...who are you?", I asked the dragon, scared.
" You are me, Rose. Do not fear me", it said spitting out some fire in the process of talking to me.
"What...what do you mean", I asked it, trying to look not that terrified now.
" There is no time Rose. No time for an explanation. But listen to me, you are in danger. The Flame of life within you, that is me...is in danger. The danger is lurking behind every corner of this school. It is closer to you now. You must leave this place, as soon as possible", it warned me.
"What are you saying?", I asked it baffled. Danger? By whom? I wanted to ask so many questions, but before I could even frame my next question, the dragon started fading away, and slowly disappeared into the smoke. Disappearing into me.
Now, I did not know what happened to me at that moment, but all of sudden, I felt so confident, so strong, that I felt that I could manage the situation single-handedly. Maybe I was wrong, or maybe I wasn't.
I did not know why I did what I did next. I took a few steps ahead and stretched my arms out as if expecting something to embrace me. And it did, the fire and the smoke with which the room was filled, slowly started coming towards me. It was like, I was sucking them inside me. I felt hot, very hot from within, it was as if every cell of my body was crying to stop torturing them, but then it was over. There was not a speck of fire or even smoke left in the room, because I knew that then, they were all inside me.
The double sets of doors clicked open, and my friends ran into me, pulling me towards them, embracing me. Kat even started crying.
"I'm fine, Kat", I told her, wiping down the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.
"Get aside, everyone...everyone get aside", Professor Herlin, reached me pushing all those who were huddled around me " Rose come with me", she said, grasping my hand and leading me out "We will take you to the infirmary", she said pushing me out, through the curious crowd.
"That's not required Ma'am, I'm fine", I told her embarrassed about the thought of going to the infirmary for the second time in two weeks.
"You, everyone", she held the class's attention " The test is postponed, class dismissed", she said, clearly ignoring what I said. And that's how I ended up in an infirmary for the second time in two weeks, just for nothing.
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I was very excited to write this chapter, for many many reasons...hahaa😜.
I really hope you guys liked this chapter. Do let me know of your thoughts in the comments...
Do not forget to VOTE;)
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