''Never believe the bullshit that fake guys feed to ya''
Rose didn't know how long she had been in the room, she didn't even know how long she had been staring at the book after the vision ended but as she managed to pull herself together, her thoughts came crashing back in. The vision had shown her what had played out in this exact area over all those years, and it had left her feeling rather emotional.
Still slightly confused, she managed to make her way out of the room, and she was relieved when she spotted Professor Green waiting for her, still in in the same spot. It was only when the professor wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a hug that she noticed the wetness on her cheeks. She was crying.
'Are you okay?', Professor Green whispered softly as she pulled out of the hug and held Rose at arm's length, examining her.
Rose knew nothing was wrong with her physically, it was only on an emotional level that she felt vulnerable. The vision had moved her, and she couldn't even explain to herself why.
'Yes, I'm fine, really.', Rose managed to weakly let out. 'I just have to sit down for a second.'
So, there she was, sitting next to Professor Green in an ancient fire fairy cave, completely overwhelmed by what was shown to her. Maybe it wasn't exactly what she had seen, rather what she felt during. The knowledge the book had shared with her seemed so sacred, so fragile, like it needed to be protected.
'Do you want to talk about it?', the professor asked after a moment of silence.
Rose didn't know the answer to that question. Part of her wanted to, but it just felt wrong. 'Am I even allowed to share?', she asked sheepishly.
'You are, but you don't have to. The book shows you a part of fire magic history but there's a reason why you can't actually read what's inside the book. That's how the ancient fire fairy tribe has managed to protect the original writing all this time.', Professor Green explained. 'The way you're feeling right now is not uncommon. I have heard stories about fire fairies who have been here. The vision always leaves a lasting impression but after a day or so you will feel normal again.'
Rose was relieved to hear that last part but so many questions were still running through her head. 'How come I've never read about this in the history books, and can just everyone visit this place?'
Her questions caused the professor to let out a laugh. 'This history is very specific to the element of fire, it's sacred information which isn't ours to teach at Alfea. We can't even access the source of the information ourselves. The history we teach at Alfea, the history you read about in the books, is information accessible to everyone. We can tell you about all the great things, or the opposite, the cruelties, that have been done in the past as long as history allows us to.', she explained.
'And for your second question, it's not easy to visit this place. The cave is protected by magic, you can't just stumble onto it. Fire fairies have put a barrier over it, wanting to protect their origin story. To be honest with you, there's something else I've kept from you.'
The stern expression on the professors' face caused Rose's breathing to stop, but she kept silent, waiting for the professor to continue.
'I've brought you here with the permission of headmistress Dowling but, you have to realise, it is dangerous to come here as there are always others trying to rob this place of it's magic, wanting to manipulate it for their own gain. To assure your protection, headmistress Dowling put an extra spell over this place. She is keeping an eye on us, ready to intervene if danger were to arise. Headmistress Dowling is powerful but keeping the spell in place to protect us is weakening her. It's best to leave right now.'
Rose was sad to leave the cave as there was still so much she didn't know about it's history, like the inscriptions for example, but she had to follow Professor Green's instructions. She was grateful for the experience, for the information she had obtained, without them, without their help, this wouldn't have been possible. So with that, the professor quickly teleported them back to Alfea.
-
As Rose returned to her dorm, she was glad to see no one was there. She had come to love her roommates, but she needed a minute to herself, to process everything. She made her way over to the bathroom and turned on the shower. A long hot shower was exactly what she needed right now.
Rose had been right, the shower did help but the experience still weighed heavily on her and just like it always did when she felt down, the sudden urge to hear the voices of her parents welled up inside of her. She quickly took out her phone and video called them.
'Hi honey!', her mom's cheerful voice rang through the phone as soon as she picked up, immediately taking away a part of the weight.
'Hi, mum.', Rose mumbled back. 'Is dad there too?'
'I'm right here, dear.', her father chimed in as his face appeared on the screen. 'Is everything okay?'
Of course her parents would right away catch on to the fact that something was troubling her and this time, Rose was grateful for it. Though she wasn't ready to talk about her experience earlier that day, it felt good to just talk to them for a while.
She told them about how her magic abilities were progressing, about the fun she had had with her new friends and how she had bought a dress for the upcoming gala.
While Rose was talking to her parents, she could hear the door to the dorm open and she knew one or more of her roommates had returned. Probably more than one, as loud chattering could be heard.
'Rose! You're back. How-', Bloom started as she entered their shared bedroom, but she quickly stopped talking as she noticed Rose was on the phone.
'Is that one of your friends?!', Rose's mother exclaimed enthusiastically. 'Won't you let us meet her?'
Rose cast an uncertain look at Bloom who just shrugged before taking a seat next to Rose on her bed.
'Hello, mister and missus Lindor. Nice to meet you, I'm Bloom.', Bloom introduced herself as she smiled sweetly into the camera.
'Bloom, what a beautiful name!', Rose's mother remarked. 'The pleasure is all ours, it's really nice to be able to put a face to the name. Rose has told us so much about you already. It must've been so hard to adjust to a new world, I hope it's all going well for you, dear.'
It was typically like her mom to be worried about each and everyone around her and Rose just kept listening with a warm feeling in her heart as her parents kept talking to Bloom. However, it didn't take long before another one of her roommates interrupted the video call.
'Rose, Riven is here to see you.', Stella informed her as she appeared into the entrance of the bedroom.
It was safe to say that Rose felt completely mortified at the mention of a boy's name in front of her parents. She was not ready to have that conversation with them.
'Riven?', her parents said in unison but while her mom's voice was full of curiosity and enthusiasm, her fathers was full of disbelief and scepticism.
Rose's cheeks turned a deep red and she quickly shoved the phone into Bloom's hand before rushing up to meet Riven at the door. She couldn't have him come into the bedroom.
'Hi!', she squeaked out as she reached him, face flushed. 'I'm so sorry, I completely forgot I was supposed to meet you this evening. I'll be right out, okay?'
Rose quickly started to walk back to her bedroom but a confused Riven caught her wrist before she could make it there.
'What's wrong?', he asked as a concerned expression took over his facial features.
'Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I was just on the phone with my parents. Give me a sec to say goodbye to them and then I'll come right out.', Rose rushed out but the panic inside of her increased as she saw Bloom standing in the door opening of their shared bedroom, her phone in hand.
'What's the rush, dear? Let us meet him, we will behave ourselves.', her mother tried as she had picked up on Rose's conversation with Riven. 'Even your father.'
'No, that's definitely not going to happen right now.', Rose groaned but before she had even finished the sentence, Riven had already taken a step forward. She mouthed a frustrated What are you doing at him before trying to shove him back. She might have not succeeded in getting him to take a step back, but at least he was now stood still, his hands up in the air as if to say that he wasn't doing anything bad.
She quickly rushed over to Bloom before snatching her phone out of her hands and closing the bedroom door behind her.
'Mom, dad, I really have to go right now. Please forget that last part happened.', Rose pleaded but she already knew they weren't going to let it go.
'Oh, honey, why didn't you tell us you met a boy? Is he good to you? Is he handsome?', her mother asked while she dragged out the last word accompanied with wriggling eyebrows.
'Please just stop.', Rose groaned in embarrassment at her mother's questions. 'There is nothing to tell yet, okay?'
'Well, I think it would be a good idea if you brought him over for dinner one of these days. I'd like to get a good look at him.', her father responded though his voice was already filled with disapproval.
'NO!', Rose rushed out rather loudly. 'Honestly, it's way too early to talk about any of that. We're just friends, okay? I really have to go now.'
'Well, okay hun, if you say so.', her mother said, clearly not believing her. 'Just know you can tell us anything, we love you. Bye!'
'Yes, we love you! friends is good, just stay friends.' Rose could hear her father say but as their faces disappeared from her screen, Rose assumed her mother had quickly ended the video call to prevent her father talking her out of dating like he had tried a million times before.
Rose let out another soft groan before trying to collect herself and making her way out into the common living room.
'So sorry about that.', she mumbled uneasily as her eyes locked with Riven's. He was sitting on their couch, right next to Terra, clearly uncomfortable. It made Rose feel even worse about the whole situation, she knew Terra probably wouldn't have said anything nice to him. She really had to have a talk with her about it, though, now was not the time for that.
'Let's go.', Rose suggested as she grabbed her coat and nodded her head towards the door.
'So...', Riven trailed as they walked through the hallways of Alfea. They were heading over to the pergola, where Rose was supposed to meet him before. 'Your mind seemed pretty set on hiding me from your parents.'
Rose could notice how awkward the subject made him as he just walked next to her, hands deep in the pockets of his jeans, his gaze avoiding hers.
'Well, yes.', Rose started, confused as to what he was getting at. 'Did you want to meet them?'
'Hmm, well, it probably wouldn't have been a good idea now that I think about it.', Riven remarked as he let out a chuckle.
This was exactly what Rose meant before. The mixed signals. This boy was giving her a headache. Like, what was that even supposed to mean?, she thought to herself as she took a seat on the bench underneath the pergola, Riven sitting down next to her.
'More importantly, how was your field trip?', Riven asked as Rose didn't respond.
'Oh, the field trip.', Rose started. She had almost forgotten about it due to what had just happened, but, now that Riven mentioned it again, it came crashing back in. It made her feel rather emotional again, a mixture of relief, vulnerability, warmth and proudness and she still couldn't explain it. 'It was fine. I actually wanted to show you something else.', she rushed out, trying to avoid the field trip subject.
'Watch.', Rose started as she held out her hand in front of her.
She had practised what she was about to do a few times before as she wanted to use it to show Riven that magic also had a beautiful side. She snapped her fingers and opened her hand, a flame forming in the palm. Her eyes started glowing a bright vermilion as she willed the flame to rise up from her hand before she made it burst into sparkles, like firework.
'This wasn't what I had in mind when you told me you would try to get me to appreciate magic more, but, I have to say, I like it.', Riven said, sounding amused as he watched the sparkles.
'Yes, very cute.', a voice spoke up from behind them, startling the two of them.
'For fuck's sake, Beatrix.', Riven cursed as his eyes landed on the source of the voice. 'Creeping in the dark doesn't look good on you.'
Beatrix just threw him a fake smile before she came to stand in front of them, her arms crossed, and a mean look on her face.
'I was just trying to smoke in peace, you know, like we used to do together.' Her eyes sparkled as she emphasized the last part of the sentence. 'You really used to be fun, but it seems that you've become rather lame since you started hanging out with little miss boring.', Beatrix remarked as she raised an eyebrow. 'No offense, of course.'
'Watch it, Beatrix.', Riven warned as Rose could feel him tense up next to her.
'Oh, did I hit a nerve there?', Beatrix questioned, a sly smile on her face. 'What are you going to do about it?'
Before either of them could respond, Beatrix opened her hands at her sides and as she slightly tilted her head in a challenging way, Rose could hear Riven let out a groan in pain.
Before Rose even realised what she was doing, she had gotten up from the bench, flames burning bright at her sides. 'Stop!', she demanded as the vermilion in her eyes equalled the glow of the blue in Beatrix's.
'As fun as it is electrocuting you, you're not the one I want to talk to.', Beatrix said as she clicked her tongue and looked over at Rose. 'I'd put away those flames if I were you. I've heard all about your panic attack, attempts to sneak out and you fearing your own magic. They're worried enough about you as is.'
A mixture of anxiousness and angriness settled in Rose's stomach as soon as Beatrix let out the words, but she managed to calm down enough to retract her magic while Beatrix continued.
'Wondering how I know? I overhead Dowling talking about it with Silva and Green. They seemed...', Beatrix trailed, trying to look as if she was deep in thought. 'Concerned to say the least. I don't blame them, you know. It seems like you are kind of endangering everyone alse at the school.'
Rose was totally taken aback by what Beatrix was sharing with her, but she tried to come up with a response anyway. 'Well, they can stop worrying. I'm not afraid anymore.', she said sternly, trying to sound confident though, at the moment, she definitely wasn't.
'You sure about that?', Beatrix asked provokingly. 'That cute little trick you just performed won't be enough to get you through the exams of this trimester. See, it has come to my attention that the exam will exist out of battling one another.' She tilted her head as she looked Rose over. 'Should be fun.'
It was obvious that her words were dripping with venom, she was taunting her. Beatrix threw them one last feigned smile before she turned around on her heels and strutted away, leaving a worried looking Rose and an angry looking Riven behind.
***
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I'm actually mentally preparing myself for the next two chapters ~