''I see fire burning the trees''
'Again!', a voice demanded from outside of one of the simulation rooms.
The simulation rooms were big square rooms in which trainings could be held against simulated opponents.
Rose heard a groan coming from the red-haired girl next to her.
'Do we really have to?', she complained, desperation clear in her voice.
Rose couldn't blame her. The simulations had been tough on them. As a matter of fact, Rose was currently flat on her back on the ground after being hit by yet another magic air blast.
'Yes, Bloom, keep going.', Professor Palladium responded in a stern voice.
At that, Rose struggled to get up, getting a helping hand from Bloom. They got back in position as they waited for the next fairy to appear. A simulated fairy at that, who'd appear out of nowhere for about ten times a session and let it be known that, even though the fairy was a simulation, the blows it delivered felt very real.
The assignment was to take out the simulated fairy before it could attack you. Two against one, easy enough you'd think. Well, it was not, as they hadn't managed to take even one simulated fairy out in the past three sessions. The cause? They weren't able to control their magic properly.
As soon as Rose detected the fairy, she summoned her magic. Instead of sending a ball of energy towards it, her magic let her down again. It backfired and crashed right back into her, causing Rose to be hurled through the air. Again.
Look at that, she thought, this time it wasn't even the simulation taking her out. She had done a fine job of that herself.
She looked over at Bloom, hoping she'd have more luck, and she watched as Bloom opened her hands, two flames forming in her palms. She tried to aim towards the fairy, but the flames came nowhere near enough to do any damage.
After Bloom's failed attempt, it was the simulated fairy's turn to retaliate, causing Bloom to fall on the floor next to Rose. They sucked.
The last four weeks had been peanuts with the main focus on lessons in transformation, teaching the fairies to control a full transformation. Fully transforming was easy enough but the lessons in combat that had started this week were being a pain in the arse.
Actually, that wasn't completely true, it was a combination. Fully transforming allowed fairies to be stronger, but that strength had to be controlled. Clearly, Rose and Bloom did not have it under control.
After Bloom's not so graceful landing, she turned to Rose.
'I have to tell you something', she panted.
'What? Are you serious, right now?' Rose asked, clearly sounding out of breath.
Bloom groaned as she tried to get up. 'Yes, we have a minute or so before the next attack.'
'Well, that's where you're wrong.', Rose quickly rushed out before spreading her wings and getting back in the air. 'There she is again.', Rose said, her voice filled with dread.
-
On the outside of the simulation rooms, professor Palladium was observing. Rose and Bloom were no exception, but they weren't particularly excelling either. Most of the students had already passed the simulation, but a few teams were still going at it as they hadn't been able to defeat their simulated opponent. Professor Palladium couldn't quite figure out why Rose and Bloom failed so terribly. He had selected them to be a team himself, since he could sense that they were both powerful.
He was just going for another observation round as two specialists neared him, carrying crates.
'We were ordered to move these crates here.', One of them stated.
'Ah, yes, thank you, Dane.', professor Palladium responded.
After dropping off the crates, Dane became distracted by one of the simulation rooms.
'They are getting their arses kicked pretty bad.', he observed, while raising an eyebrow. 'Riv, come look.'
'Fuck, that's Rose.', Riven remarked while peering inside.
At the very moment he looked inside, the simulated fairy had just knocked Bloom out of the air again and was turned to Rose with a menacing looking whirlwind in her hands, ready to attack.
This was the first time Riven had seen her fully transformed and as he took in her appearance, he couldn't deny that it looked good on her. However, he also noticed that she looked battered.
'Stop the simulation!', Riven frantically shouted while he reached for the handle on the door.
'Riv, you can't!', Dane yelled back while, just in time, blocking Riven's path. 'You can't enter mid-simulation, it's dangerous, you know that.', He scolded.
'But-,' Riven started, but he stopped talking as soon as he saw Rose dodging the fairy's attack. He watched as she aimed a powerful fire bolt towards the fairy and succeeded to strike her.
As the fire bolt came into contact with the fairy, it seemed to crumble apart into little blocks.
Riven let out a relieved sigh and he couldn't hide the proud grin on his face as he turned to Dane. 'I guess she had it under control.', He said, earning a funny look from him.
'What was that?', Dane questioned.
'What was what, mate?', Riven replied, sounding annoyed.
He knew what Dane was getting at and he was not willing to have that conversation.
'I'm talking about your stupid little attempt at a rescue operation just now.', Dane sassed with an amused smile causing Riven to scoff.
'You're overexaggerating, I just- ,' he started, but he was cut off by Dane.
'Wanted to intervene in a simulation when Rose was about to get struck.', Dane finished the sentence for him. 'You got a thing for her?', He asked Riven while wriggling his eyebrows.
'No, of course not.' Riven protested, but the words didn't sound convincing. 'She's hot, but I don't think we're quite compatible.', He added, while rubbing the back of his neck.
Though it wasn't the whole truth, it also wasn't a complete lie either. To him, she just didn't seem like the type who'd be into flings and that's all Riven really had had throughout his time at Alfea.
'Whatever, mate, let's just finish delivering these crates.', Dane responded while walking away.
-
Rose was grateful when the simulation had finally ended. After their first take down of the simulated fairy, they managed to take out the other nine together. To Rose, it wasn't really an achievement, but she was glad it was over.
As the two of them left the simulation room, they were met by professor Palladium.
'There's still a lot of work left, but for now, well done.' He nodded at them before walking away.
'God, I never want to attend one of his classes again.', Rose groaned as soon as he was out of earshot.
'Can't argue with that.', Bloom responded while letting out a sigh.
'What was it you wanted to tell me?', Rose started, 'back in the simulation room?'
'Oh, that...,' Bloom trailed off, while a blush crept onto her cheeks. 'Well, you know how I told you that nothing was going on between Sky and I? That was a lie.'
'Oh, really, hadn't figured that one out yet.', Rose responded sarcastically while rolling her eyes, earning a chuckle from Bloom.
'I told Sky I would come see him tomorrow in the afternoon at the specialists training area.'
'Uhm, okay...', Rose said, her voice trailing off at the end, unsure of what Bloom was getting at.
'I wanted to ask you to come with me, you know, in case it might get really awkward.', Bloom continued.
'No, it's definitely not on my schedule to go third wheeling tomorrow afternoon. For this one, you're on your own.', Rose stated matter-of-factly.
'Please?', Bloom pleaded, while dragging out the word. 'Please do me this one favour, I'll owe you.', She said, while stopping Rose in her tracks and folding her hands in front of her as she put on a puppy face.
Rose let out a sigh in return. She definitely didn't want to be part of an awkward conversation between Bloom and Sky, it would probably just be more awkward if she was there too. But on the other hand, she found it difficult to say no to Bloom and it also wouldn't hurt if she could collect a favour from her. She did need Bloom's help after all. A smiled appeared on Rose's face as an idea popped into her head.
'Okay, fine,', she started, causing the red-haired girl to smile from ear to ear. 'But, this afternoon, you and I go train together in the forest.'
As soon as the words left Rose's mouth, the smile on Bloom's face faltered. 'Are you serious?', she groaned. 'After the training we just had?'
'Yes, you said it yourself, classes will only get more demanding. We need to improve, or we might not even make it to the second trimester.', Rose responded while waving her hands.
'Fine, then. I'll meet you in the courtyard after lunch.', Bloom grunted, while starting to walk away and leaving Rose behind with a triumphant look on her face.
-
After lunch, Rose had made her way over to the courtyard and, while waiting for Bloom, sat down on one of the benches. She didn't have to wait long as she spotted her roommate walking into her direction only moments after.
'There you are!', Rose happily exclaimed.
'Shush!' Bloom grumbled, sounding annoyed. 'Let's get this over with.'
'Don't be so grumpy, it will be fun.', Rose chirped, while getting up off the bench, but Bloom just rolled her eyes in response before they headed into the forest.
Rose had learnt that the school was protected by a barrier and even a big part of the forest surrounding the building fell within its protection. It was put into place to keep out non-magical beings and intruders.
As first-years weren't exactly allowed to train on their own, they decided to look up the border of the barrier. It took them a while to get there, but to Rose, it was worth it. Bloom however, hadn't enjoyed the journey.
'Now that we're here, what do you even want to do?', Bloom asked.
'Well, I haven't really thought about that yet, but I think we should start with some simple exercises.', Rose responded.
Rose told Bloom about some exercises she had read about last night and after Rose had explained them to her, they got to work. They started off with some breathing exercises and quickly went on to summoning their magic.
They had decided it was best to start off with the first type of magic, the element in its raw form, but it quickly went south. Bloom's magic seemed to be glitching as a flame would appear in her hand and disappear almost immediately after. She tried a few times, but to no avail. It left the red-haired girl utterly frustrated.
'Are you sure your head is in the right place?', Rose asked Bloom as it was happening again.
'Of course it is, I'm completely focussed!', Bloom snapped.
The angry tone in her voice made Rose flinch a little, but she understood the girl was just frustrated, so she continued.
'I think I read somewhere that it could help to try and draw from your emotions, though I don't think anger is the right emotion to draw from.', Rose informed.
'I'm not angry!', Bloom hissed. 'I'm fine, just, let me try again.', she said while taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.
As she opened them again, little flames appeared above her hands and, this time, it looked like she was in control.
'That's great!', Rose cheered happily while clapping her hands, but that happiness disappeared quite quickly when she realised Bloom was struggling to keep the flames small.
Rose wanted to intervene but as she stepped forward, she could hear Bloom yell at her to not get too close. Rose decided not to listen to her, she had to do something before the situation got completely out of hand. But what could her fire magic do to stop someone else's fire magic from getting out of control, she wondered until she remembered how she was able to feel Bloom's magic when they touched hands before and she decided to give it a shot.
As Rose lunged forward to grab ahold of Bloom's hands, the flames got even bigger and seemed to completely consume Bloom in a whirlwind of fire. There was no way Rose could reach Bloom now without burning herself in the process, but she told herself she had to try.
As the whirlwind of fire was causing sparks to land on the forest ground, Rose put her hands together and tried to break the barrier of the whirlwind while pushing through with her hands. She braced herself for the pain she thought was to come, but to her surprise, it was like a shield spread out from the tip of her fingers, reaching all around her and protecting her from the flames.
She managed to get to Bloom and quickly grabbed her hands, while the whirlwind surrounded the two. As she looked at Bloom's panicked face, she realised she had to calm her down to prevent the whirlwind from getting even bigger.
'We've got this!', she said sternly while giving Bloom's hands a soft squeeze and closing her eyes.
She could feel Bloom's magic as it was vibrating frantically, like it was angry. It felt like it was trying to consume her own magic and Rose had to put in a lot of effort into preventing that from happening. She tried to take deep slow breaths, willing her own magic to send out a sense of calmness.
As Rose could feel the vibrating of Bloom's magic coming to a stop, she realised it was working and the whirlwind began to shrink until it just disappeared.
Both girls let out a sigh of relief but as they looked around, they realised the problem was not over yet. All around them, the sparks of the whirlwind had started little fires in the forest.
As if on cue, they could see Aisha storming towards them. Before she said anything, she used her water magic to put out all the flames, and as a bonus, sent a wave of water over Rose and Bloom, causing the girls to shriek as the wave hit them and left them completely drenched.
'That's what you get for doing something insane like this!', Aisha shouted angrily. 'You could've burned everything down, how could you be so stupid?', she fumed.
Rose and Bloom exchanged guilty looks before Rose decided to speak up.
'It's my fault,' she sighed, 'I thought it would be a good idea to get in some extra training, but I was wrong.', she confessed, while clasping her right wrist with her left hand and casting her eyes down at the ground.
'You know what,', Bloom started, her voice raised, 'I think you should cut us some slack. Not everyone is a natural in using their magic. Some of us struggle, I'm sorry to disappoint you.'
Bloom's words were harsh.
'That's not even the point and you know it!', Aisha bit back.
While they bickered back and forth, Rose's attention was caught by something else, and she zoned out of the conversation. While the three of them stood there, she felt like someone, or something was watching them. She kept looking around but couldn't detect anything.
As she squinted her eyes to sharpen her vision, Rose thought she saw something move behind a tree. For a second, they seemed to make eye contact, but, as a reaction, it quickly rushed off further into the forest. It had moved so fast, that Rose couldn't even identify it. It had looked like a spider, but then again, it was way too big seeing as it had the size of a small dog.
Rose blinked a few times, trying to figure out if she was just seeing things, but she quickly came to the conclusion that that was not the case. She pondered on whether to tell Bloom and Aisha about it, but decided against since she didn't even know what she had seen exactly.
She shook her head to get rid of the image and the sound of bickering filled her ears again.
'Guys, come on, stop.', she started as she went to stand in between them. 'Yes, we made a mistake, we have learnt from it and we're grateful you were there to help us out.', she continued while looking in Aisha's direction. 'But can we please just go now, this place is giving me the creeps.'
Rose let out a sigh of relief as both girls nodded and they made their way back to the school.
-
As Rose walked back to her dorm in the evening, she couldn't shake the image of the creature she had seen earlier in the forest. She decided she was just going to call it a big spider.
Outside, the sun had set and the dim glow of the torches in the courtyard could be seen through the windows. It gave her an idea.
She swiftly turned on her heels and went out the nearest door leading outside. She was going back. She felt like she was going insane and had to check one more time if the big spider was out there by the barrier.
As she neared the edge of the forest, she cursed herself for not carrying a flashlight. After the incident this afternoon, she was not going to use her magic in the forest again.
She didn't know whether it was the cold air or the sight of the dark forest which caused a shiver to crawl down her spine, but she put on a brave face as quickly stepped into the forest.
Just as she was going to take another step, she felt someone pulling on her wrist, causing her to let out a shriek as she was being pulled back out. She quickly summoned her magic and, with her free hand, formed a flame.
'Woah, jesus, relax.' She heard coming from behind her.
She knew that voice.
'Dane!', she shouted as she could finally see who it was. 'What are you doing?', she questioned angrily.
She didn't mean to get mad at him, but to be fair, he had given her a mini heart attack.
'What am I doing here?', he started, 'What are you doing here?' he finished while pointing an accusing finger at her. 'If you weren't aware yet, specialists patrol the school premises at night. I'm just doing my job.'
As Rose listened to Dane, she realised she was being an idiot and she felt her cheeks turn pink in embarrassment.
'I'm sorry, I was just-', she began, but realised he would probably think she was a freak if she told him the truth. 'I-', she continued, but she still couldn't manage to form a proper sentence. Try harder Rose, she thought to herself. 'I can't explain it.'
Well, there it was. The perfect explanation. Not. She mentally facepalmed herself as she studied Dane's face.
'You fairies are a real mystery to me, you know that?', Dane joked as his face showed an amused smile.
'Yes, well, that makes two of us.', Rose responded while letting out a laugh.
'Come on, I'll walk you back to your dorm.', Dane offered while turning back into the direction of the school.
Rose felt a mixed feeling of disappointment and relief but decided it was best to just walk with him. What else was she going to do.
'I'm not sure if you're walking me back to be nice or if you're doing it to keep an eye on me.', Rose wondered aloud while raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
'Hmm, let's just go with a little bit of both.', Dane responded while chuckling. 'I saw you train today in the simulation room.', he mentioned while glancing her way.
'Oh, god, you did?', she asked him while covering her face with her hands. 'It was awful, wasn't it?'
'Well, I could tell you guys were struggling, but I also witnessed you delivering a striking blow.', he remarked. 'Quite impressive.'
Rose felt her cheeks heat up again, but this time it wasn't embarrassment causing it, it was Dane's compliment. Rose had never been good at taking compliments and this time was no different.
'Thank you.', She mumbled while giving him a shy smile. 'And thank you again, for keeping me from making a mistake. Entering the forest at night was never going to be a good idea.', she laughed. 'And I'm sorry for snapping at you.'
'It's fine, I did give you a good scare, so I probably deserved it.', he snickered as they reached her dorm.
'I do have to ask though, will you keep this between us or is headmistress Dowling going to hear about it?', she questioned with a worried expression on her face.
'Don't worry, your secret's safe with me.', Dane replied while giving her a reassuring smile.
They said their goodbyes before Dane went back to patrolling the school premises and Rose made her way inside her dorm.
As it had been quite the eventful day, she had no trouble falling asleep. However, her dreams were haunted by big spiders and unfortunately for Rose, they were just the beginning.