The next morning, I didn't want to get up. Aisha had gotten up a while ago, but I refused. She was a morning person. My covers were warm and inviting while the air was cold and jarring. That is not the way I want to wake up. Suddenly my covers were ripped free. Stella stood above me as she held my covers away from me.
"Come on," I grumbled into my sheets as I tried to hide my face from the light. I curled into a ball as she continued to glare at me. What did she want so early in the morning?
"Where is my ring?" She asked. Oh right. Did she really have to have it right now? In the morning. Before I was even awake. She could have at least asked me a little later.
"I lost it," Bloom said from beside me. Stella let go of my covers allowing me to hide from the growing argument. I groaned and pulled the covers over my head. The light was bright as shit. "That burned thing took it."
"You lost it," Stella sounded angry. Here we go. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
"You were the one who gave it to her in the first place," Aisha defended. Oh, she was back from her swim already. She gets up way too early for me. I was thankful she never woke me while she got ready. I'm not a morning person.
"You knew what was out there," Musa added from our doorway. Was everyone awake already but me? How did they do that?
"That was a family heirloom. A Solarian treasure!" Stella scoffed. "But what would you know about that?" She glared at all of us. Pulling the princess card.
"Don't yell at her," Aisha snapped.
"Let's not argue in the morning," I shook my head. "It's not a great way to start the day."
"We're getting it back," Stella demanded as she left the room. Welcome to Alfea. First day of classes and retrieval of Stella's family jewels.
"Well today's going to be fun," I grumbled as I stood up to get ready.
—
We were all sitting around the stone circle. The bowl is in the middle of the stone. Dowling had been trying to explain to everyone how to conjure their magic. She explained where it comes from. Emotions. Positive emotions. Although I sometimes draw on negative emotions. Just depends on my moods. We've all gone up. Aisha first. She conjured her water, then Terra, then Musa, then me. Then Bloom was up, but it wasn't going well. She was gripping the sides of the bowl until her knuckles were white, but no fire was conjured. Small sparks, but nothing more.
"You need to let go," Dowling instructed. Bloom was frustrated. I could see it. I guess she assumes that since it came to the rest of us so easily, it should be natural for her as well. She has a complicated history with her magic though.
" I know. I know! Positive emotions," Bloom gripped the bowl tighter, she could barely conjure up a flame. "I've been listening."
"Think about your parents," Aisha reasoned. She was trying to be helpful, but Bloom was too caught up in her own head right now to listen.
"This is a disaster," Musa whispered to me. I gave her a stern look which made her quiet down. Bloom can hear us, so that was not helping.
"It's not happening! Can we move on please?" Bloom complained as she came back to sit down between Aisha and me. I rested my head on her shoulder and she allowed me. Which slightly surprised me. I looked down and saw the amount of room I was taking up on this rock. I lifted my heels resting them against the base of the rock so I could make them look a little thinner. My thighs looked massive, they were, but no one else needed to see that.
"This is stupid," Bloom hissed as Dowling continued to explain the next few steps.
"You'll get there, Bloom, you have to remember that the other people have known since they were little what to do. They grew up with it. You didn't," I smiled. She nodded slowly as she stared down into her hands.
After this horrid class, it was lunchtime. I had a little extra time though, so I walked towards the specialist training. Was I stalking? Of course not. They did intrigue me. People without magic, but still strong enough to fight beside a fairy. Dane, Riven, and Beatrix were talking as they passed me. I was focused ahead of me, so I didn't have to bother with the three of them.
"Hey Delly," Riven waved at me, but I didn't respond. "Come on, don't be like that." He started walking after me. Dude, just leave me alone.
"Adelaide!" Silva waved me over. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I watched as Riven stopped following me and returned to his little fan club. Ever since our first meeting, I haven't liked Riven.
"Hey," I smiled at Silva. He looked over my shoulder at Riven. "What did you need?"
"Dowling and I were wanting to know if you would accompany the transport team for the burned one. You wouldn't have to be in any action, it's just a simple test. Simple transport mission," He asked. Go with the transport team. I guess I would be helpful. Although I would just be another guard and the specialists would hate me.
"Sure, is there any particular reason?" I asked. It got me out of classes for a bit which was a plus.
"You have a lot of magic, we wanted to train you with field training, we think it would make the Queen more comfortable when she realizes that you have more than one ability. We can show that you are there to help. You don't have to say yes if you don't want to," Silva explained. That would make sense. I was also helpful, and I got the chance to use my abilities.
"No, I want to do it. I've been waiting for a long time to be able to use my abilities for something. If helping the school is one of them, I am more than happy to do it," I explained. Silva just nodded.
"Very well, we will alert you when we are getting ready to move and you would have to change into specialist gear," He added. Specialist gear. I don't know how well I will fit into that. "Also keep this from your friends."
"Addi," Someone called. Sky was walking toward us. He still had his training gear on. He was putting away the small knife into the front of his cross-chest sheath.
"You both know each other?" Silva asked, pointing between Sky and me.
"We met yesterday," I explained. He dropped his finger and nodded.
"Well, I will let you two talk. Remember what I said," I nodded as Silva walked back to the platform. Sky gave me a confused look, but I shook my head.
"What are you doing out here?" Sky asked. He seemed slightly out of breath.
"I had time, so I went for a little walk," I explained. He was staring at me. I tried my best to avoid eye contact with him, but his eyes were just so alluring I had to.
"Not because you wanted to see me or anything," Sky smiled, his eyes squinting a little because of the sun. I hated that he was attracted. I hated it even more that I was attracted to him. He wasn't a bad guy or anything, I could just tell things were complicated.
"No, you aren't that special," I scoffed, fighting the smile from my face.
"It's okay to smile Addi," Sky crossed his arms over his chest as he stared down at me. I chewed the inside of my lip. Addi? He called me that when he interrupted Silva and me earlier too. Ada. Delly. Addi. I kind of liked them. I've never had a nickname.
"Addi?" I questioned. He shrugged and looked over his shoulder as one of the specialists was thrown into the pond next to the mat.
"Sorry, I do that. Riven is Riv." He smiled. Riv. Huh. Makes him sound a little less like a dick.
"It's okay, just no one has called me that before," I smiled. My thumb was sticky, and I looked down noticing that I picked my cuticle until it bled. Damn it.
"Oh, well now someone does," He smiled as he ran a hand through his hair. Sky was extremely attractive. Stella was lucky. "Hey, I wanted to apologize for Ri-."
"Sky," Stella called for him. I looked over my shoulder and saw her glaring at me. She was slowly making her way over toward us like she was some kind of predator.
"I should go, good to see you," I backed away before fully turning. Time for lunch. I was hungry since I didn't eat much breakfast. I didn't eat well in front of people. Always felt like someone was staring.
—
I was trying to avoid Stella if possible. She was definitely angry with me for talking to Sky, but we were just friends. I sat down and took a long drink of my water. I saw Musa's eyes. They were purple.
"What's happening?" I asked her. She looked around. Someone caught her attention.
"I'm not sure," She smiled. Oo, Musa has a crush on an unknown person.
"Oh, she's got a crush," Aisha teased.
"Ooo, what does he or she feel like? Emotionally I mean?" I leaned forward. Musa just smirked and looked down at her hands.
"I uh-" Her eyes stopped with the purple. Bloom smirked from across me. "He's gone."
"He disappeared?" Bloom asked. Who disappears?
"So, here's the plan," Stella came over with Sky beside her. He was holding rolled-up paper. A map I assumed. I had to lean back as Bloom moved our food to the back of the table.
"Plan?" Terra asked, staring at her tray as it was pushed away from her. I grabbed my water and moved it as Stella took the paper from Sky.
"To get my ring back," Stella put down the map. Bloom and I both held an edge of the map keeping it flat on the table.
"Is this Alfea?" Musa asked.
"Yes, that's the little creak and the barrier," She pointed out the lines on the map. Sky sat down beside me.
"So, I heard you fought a burned one last night," Sky muttered. I nodded. "You didn't think you should've brought that up earlier?" He smiled. I stared down into my hands not wanting to look over at him while Stella was here. I wasn't scared of her. I just didn't want any drama.
"I'm okay. Dowling was the one that really did the damage," I explained as I slowly cracked my knuckles one by one.
"Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded.
"Perfectly fine," I smiled as I glanced at Stella for a moment. Sky smiled at me as he leaned a little closer. The conversation around us stopped. The girls had all turned toward us.
"I'm glad you weren't hurt, but-," He was interrupted. What was he going to say though? It didn't matter.
"Sky?" Stella tugged on his arm until he stood up. "Where did you think they would be keeping it?" She put her hand on his arm. He looked at her confused and then back at me. I just looked back down to the map. Bloom and Aisha were drilling holes into my head from across the table.
"Um, either the shed or this warehouse," He pointed out the two spots on the map.
"Probably the shed, my dad had to fortify the beams-," Terra started to explain.
"Great story Ter," Stella added. Terra's smile faltered. "So, we will be going along this path to the shed to retrieve my ring." Stella pointed. Great plan. Solid.
"Who's this "we" you keep referring to?" Musa asked.
"Us all," Stella motioned to the whole table.
"It's your ring," Aisha explained. "Your problem."
"I lost it, I'll get it," Bloom added, as she looked at me. Was I supposed to be agreeing? Why was she looking at me?
"Adelaide?" Stella asked, waiting for me to respond.
"I might be able to," I shrugged. I didn't know when Silva was going to call on me. I was kind of excited. "I can't guarantee anything though."
"You don't have to," Bloom shook her head. She wanted me to.
"Well, someone's gotta look out for you, you don't do the smartest things," I laughed at her. She just scoffed and looked at Aisha who nodded.
"Well thanks, Bloom for owning up to your actions. Adelaide for being a team player and everyone else for. Well, nothing," Stella rolled up the map and left. Sky hesitated but left as well.
"This has been a pleasant lunch, but—" I stood up.
"Wait, I thought you were," Aisha pushed the food toward me. I shook my head. My stomach grumbled, but I wouldn't eat it anymore anyway.
"No, I'm okay," I shook my head. "I'll see you guys later." I walked outside through the small maze. It was quite pretty out here.
"Addi?" Sky jogged after me. Did he follow me out here? Where was Stella? She always seemed to be just behind him.
"Where's Stella?" I joked. Sky smiled a little.
"She can be—," He paused.
"Demanding," I finished. He nodded.
"You don't have to do everything she says," He added as he put his hand on my arm stopping me.
"Well, I gotta keep the peace," I joked. He looked around and nodded.
"At least you're trying," He sighed. I chewed the inside of my lip.
"So, you and Stella?" I asked. Shouldn't have asked that. Sky scratched the back of his neck.
"Yeah," He sighed. "It's complicated, but I enjoy being around you, Addi."
"That's touching," I placed a hand on my heart. He wasn't lying either. A small flutter of hope started in my chest.
"Your eyes are purple," He laughed as his eyes flickered to mine for a moment.
"Sorry sometimes it happens," I blinked.
"Stella can be jealous, I just didn't want her to scare you away," Sky reasoned a bit.
"Luckily I'm good at reading people. I see who they really are and what they really need. Stella needs someone to understand her, and be there for her," I explained. Sky stared at me for a moment. He was going to ask.
"And what about me then?" He asked. I took a moment to look into his eyes. He had gorgeous eyes.
"You are there for everyone else, always the strong guy. Their safety, but you don't know how to handle anything yourself. You think if you help other people somehow it will help you heal as well," He nodded slowly. His smile never faltered, and his emotions never fluctuated.
"You're pretty good," He smiled. I placed my hand on his arm.
"I just want you to know I get it. We are similar, that's why I know," I shoved him a little bit.
"Glad I found you then," He added as he stared at me.
"Me too," I muttered. This moment suddenly felt too intimate. I stepped back. "I gotta get going."
"Oh yeah, me too," Sky laughed a little. "Would you want to hang out sometime?" I paused. "As friends." He explained.
"Sure, Sky, I would love to," I laughed at him. He nodded so I took that as my leave. I backed away, giving him a small wave before walking in a separate direction.
—
I could feel something was up and realized that Silva was preparing. I was supposed to come to find him after my class. Dowling was going to let me out early so I could leave without suspicion. Silva gave me a uniform that I changed into quickly. The pants fit my thighs, but I had to cinch the waist a lot though. I always had a hard time finding pants. Once I was finished, I went back out to find Silva.
"We gotta get a move on," Silva added as we all walked outside. Everyone was staring at me oddly. I was out of place. It was uncomfortable. I moved towards one of the transportation vehicles as the others piled in.
"Addi?" Sky's voice hit me. I slowly turned around seeing him and Riven standing near the edge of the gravel.
"Holy shit," Riven chuckled as he looked at me in the gear.
"Shit," I muttered, glancing at Silva for assistance. Silva came towards me guiding me towards the vehicles.
"Silva?" Sky started walking toward us. Riven along with him. I opened the door and slid in quickly. They weren't supposed to know.
"Let's go!" Silva yelled as he got in with me.
"Well, we tried to get me out without witnesses," I explained. Silva rubbed his forehead.
The rest of the ride was in silence as we all looked through the woods for anything. The vehicle stopped along the hillside.
"What is it?" I muttered. Silva stepped out drawing his sword. Well, that's not good. I could feel the tension from the other specialists as well. Something was going on out there.
"Movement along the hillside!" Someone yelled. That's when the screams hit. I went to get out, but a body was thrown against the car keeping the door shut. My magic was going haywire. Their pain was running through my body. Their fear.
I took a deep breath and forced the door open. A body fell to the side. His head was missing. I covered my mouth. Oh shit. I need to focus. Now. The growling surrounded me. Off in the distance, I could see a burned one standing nearby. I grabbed the sword from one of the dead specialists' hands and got ready. I had no idea how to actually use a sword, but with some assistance from my magic, it can't be too hard.
"Come on," I ground my teeth together. The fear that coarse through my body was going to have to disappear because I couldn't' hesitate right now.
This was no different than when I was with Bloom. I watched as it ran for me. Dowling mentioned something like a cinder. It kills them. I needed to break it. It's the only way one would die. I threw the sword forward using my magic to project it faster. It went right through its chest. The hole in its chest lit up until it exploded, the burned one gone. I flexed my hand seeing the sword come back to my palm and took off running through the woods. The men were scattered in the distance. Maybe I could save some of them. I just had to kill as many burned ones as I could. I found another that was chasing me from tree to tree.
An opening. I needed an opening. Something came up fast, throwing me into a tree. I grimaced. My back was going to be bruised. My lungs ached as the air was forced from them. The creature was approaching fast. Faster than I could push myself up. I threw my sword up as it bit down on my shoulder. I twisted the sword hearing a sound similar to glass breaking. Its body exploded and collapsed on top of me. I grunted and shoved it off me. I couldn't sit up so I had to roll onto my stomach and use my legs to push myself up. My back was already stiff.
"Ow," I took a moment to get the air back into my lungs. Time to go hunting. My hands shook. I was scared but trusted myself. I had powerful magic and since I knew how to kill them. It would be simple. It should be simple at least.
—
I've been trying to track the burned ones for a bit. It was confusing. They were either attacking me or running from me. I didn't think burned ones ran from people.
"Bloom!" I heard someone yell. Bloom? That was Asiha. What are they doing here? I ran as fast as I could toward them. I could feel them and others. Pain. Intense agony. The wounded were lying everywhere.
"Someone's coming," Musa added. I appeared from behind a tree. Silva holding his sword up to me. I held my hands up so he could see them. The girls huddled around him. His eyes were turning black, along with the veins on his body. Poison. Terra seemed to be treating his wound.
"Silva," I muttered, stepping towards him.
"Are you bitten?" He asked. I looked at my shoulder.
"Yeah, but I killed it," I heaved. My shoulder stung, but the poison should have been gone since I handled it. This means that the one that got him was still out there.
"Good, good," He muttered as his arm relaxed. Musa's eyes were violet as she stared between Terra and Silva. I knew she could feel this as well.
"Adelaide, are you sure, your eyes are turning black as well," Aisha added as she slowly stepped towards me. I nodded and scanned the area. She was yelling for Bloom.
"Where's Bloom?" I asked. She wasn't around.
"She took off," Terra added.
"Stella, Musa, Terra, get Silva back to the school. Aisha and I will look for Bloom," I instructed. No one objected so I didn't wait. Aisha and I both went searching farther into the woods for bloom. She was in danger. They were all so stupid.
"Why would she run off?" Aisha muttered. I shrugged.
"You all were stupid to come out here?" I grimaced looking at my shoulder once more. I needed to clean it eventually. It was coated in dirt.
"We didn't know where you were either," Aisha complained. "What were you doing out here anyways?"
"I was asked to be a part of the transport team. I wasn't supposed to tell any of you," I sighed as I looked around a tree trying to see if I could sense anything.
"What is it?" Aisha asked as she looked at me. I could feel Bloom around here. I took off running. "Adelaide!" She ran after me. I saw fire in the distance and then Bloom's hair. She was in a ravine.
"Bloom!" I yelled as I jumped in front of her. The burned one ran for us. She had lit it on fire. I threw the sword using my magic to turn it, nailing it directly in the chest. It shrieked and clawed at it as I used my magic to rip the sword through its chest completely. Leaving a hole for me to see through. Its body collapsed onto the ground.
"Is it dead?" Aisha asked as she slowly put out the rest of Bloom's fire. Bloom and I slowly walked forward staring at its body. There was a shiny piece of metal stuck in its ribs.
"Gross," I grimaced. Bloom gestured for me to grab it. "Yeah no, you ran after it, since you're so dedicated." I stepped back. Bloom whined as she reached forward and ripped the ring from its flesh. It made a gross wet noise. I grabbed the sword off the ground and put it in the sheath on my back.
"Let's go now, it's getting dark," Aisha added. Bloom and I followed after her. We still had a little bit of light out, but the thick forest made it hard to see still.
"You're an idiot," I complained. Bloom looked at me confused. I guess he just noticed my outfit.
"What are you wearing? Are you okay?" She followed after. I was hurt, tired, and agitated. None of which I like.
"I'm wearing specialist clothes and yes," I pressed my hand to my shoulder. It was starting to slow the bleeding. Wasn't too deep though. I waved my hand in the air, a small ball of light appearing as it led us out of the woods.
"So, what exactly are your abilities?" Aisha asked, looking up at the ball of light.
"A bit of everything," I explained. Every step hurt my back. That wasn't good. "You aren't supposed to know that though. So, don't tell people."
"That is so not fair," Bloom joked. "So have you just always had them?" I nodded. I didn't know a lot about my magic so the more questions she asked the less and less I could answer. We made it back through the barrier. The blue lit up the sky as we entered the school grounds.
"You need to get checked out," Aisha pointed to my shoulder. I shook my head.
"Nah, I'm fine. They need to focus on Silva anyway," I reasoned as we continued walking through the school. Everyone was staring at me. Everyone was looking at me probably because of my outfit and the dirt and blood. I looked like I had just fought in a battle.
"There you are!" Terra announced as we walked in. She had her arms on her hips as she glared at me. "You haven't gone to see my dad yet?" Her eyes softened.
"Are you okay?" Musa asked, looking at me.
"I'm fine," I sighed. She could feel my pain, so I closed off my mind from her. She didn't need to feel that.
"She could use a nice shower," Aisha joked with me. I laughed and shoved her toward our room.
"There you are," Stella muttered. I turned to see her, and Sky enter the suite. She looked at me once again. "You seem to be in one piece. Did you get the ring?" She held her hand out.
"Yeah," I slid the sheath off my shoulders and put it on the floor near the couch. "Bloom! Princess wants her ring!" I announced. Bloom quickly came out of our room with the ring in her hand. She put it on Stella's palm.
"Thank you," She smiled, putting it back on her ring finger.
"How's Silva?" I asked Sky. He slid his hands into his pockets.
"He's alright, they are sending out another hunting party for the other burned ones," He explained. I nodded. I killed three. I don't know how many there were out there.
"They'll get them," I assured him. Stella walked towards her room.
"Sky?" She beckoned him. She was standing in her doorway staring at the two of us. Stella was starting to annoy me with how much she demanded from him.
"Give me a sec Stel," He muttered, not taking his eyes off me.
"Ah I see, Stel, Riv," I laughed a little.
"Are you okay?" He asked. His hand moved the hair from my neck seeing the bite. "The poison seems to have gone down."
"I got a little too close for the kill," I sighed, touching my shoulder. I grimaced when my back pinched. I wasn't going to be able to sleep on my back tonight. I doubted I would be able to sleep comfortably.
"Why were you a part of the transport team?" Sky asked. His hand rested on my cheek now. This was extremely personal, but I liked it. I liked him. It was a bitch move on my part, but I hurt so I didn't care right now.
"It was supposed to be a test," I explained as I picked at my cuticle.
"That's a pretty big test," He chuckled. It made me smile.
"Yeah, well it wasn't supposed to turn out like this," I sighed and let my hands drop to my sides.
"You should still get looked at by Harvey, he can fix you right up," He explained. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. I nodded.
"Tomorrow, he should worry about Silva for now," I added as I gently took his hand from my cheek. I didn't let go. Neither did he. His hands were warm. I traced the lines in his hand. It was soothing and made me forget about the aches in my body.
"Sky," Stella hissed from her doorway once more. I let go of his hand coming back to the reality of this situation. Sky was with Stella. I had no right to do anything. He wasn't mine. We have only just met.
"I'm glad you're okay," He pulled me into a gentle hug. I wanted to melt into his grip. He felt safe to me. It was hard to explain, but I've never enjoyed a hug like this. He slowly let go of me as he walked toward Stella's room. A shy dog is what he looked like. I stood there staring at her door until it was fully closed and then decided I needed to leave the living area.
I walked into the bathroom and stripped down. The uniform was itchy and coated in dirt. The fabric was stuck to my wounds making it hurt when I had to peel it off. In the mirror, I saw a giant bruise along my back. That was going to be extremely stiff in the morning. I stepped into the steaming water and watched as the clear water turned a lighter shade of pink from my shoulder. These next few days were going to be little to no sleep.