Aunt Elsinore was smiling as she dismissed the headmaster, turning to her new team. The five students stood around her, various expressions of surprise or unease on their faces.
"So, let's get started, shall we?" She glanced over, noticing Frederick's unhappy look.
"Do you have a question, boy?"
The student council president frowned, looking the older woman over from head to toe. "Who exactly are you?"
Elsinore sighed, "Points off for not listening, child. I told you I'm..."
"I heard your name... or names." Frederick waved his hand dismissively. "What I want to know is what qualifies you to be my trainer?"
He tried give off an intimidating glare, but Erin found her aunt's sweet smile that she gave in return to be much more terrifying.
"Do you think he'll survive?" Gerald muttered in her ear.
"Depends..."
"On what?"
"On how quickly he can run away."
They both chuckled, then shut up quickly as Aunt Elsinore looked their way. She turned back to Frederick, her smile still firmly in place.
"First, because I have been appointed by the government to oversee you five. This is because I have a long list of qualifications and experience in training magically talented individuals." She placed a hand to her chest. "Second, I am talented in both figuring out what your best qualities are as well as forcing you to bring them out. So I'm your best chance at giving a winning performance at the competition." Her smile turned cruel. "Third, I'm competitive, I like to win. So even if it kills you, I'll shape you five into a winning team." Raising an eyebrow, she glanced around at the five students. "Any other objections?"
Intimidated, they all shook their heads.
"Good." Satisfied by their response, Elsinore nodded and continued. "Now this competition is called a 'magical competition', but it's actually much more than that. It is meant to test students with regard to magical theory knowledge, physical prowess, teamwork, leadership, as well as of course magical control and magical combat ability." She chuckled "You all are talented, this is true, but there's a great deal of room for improvement. I will meet with each of you individually today, test you and from their determine your training regimen as well as the role you will play in this upcoming competition. So... do your best." Still smiling, she reached out and grabbed Frederick's arm.
"Let's start with you, Mr. 'Student Council President.'"
Before he could protest she had dragged him off to the right of the field, both of them disappearing into thin air.
Gerald hung his head. "A moment of silence for our lost comrade."
"..." After a brief pause they burst into laughter. "Now..."
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Olivia grabbed Gerald, pulling him off to the side. "You have to tell me everything that happened during your date!"
Gerald was pulled away, helplessly pointing at Erin, "Didn't you want to hear it from her?"
"No, Erin's good at keeping secrets, I'll miss all the good stuff, but you...?" She grinned. "You'll crack like an egg."
"Erin... help!"
Erin waved goodbye cheerfully, ignoring his plea, glad that Olivia had found an alternate victim. She then hesitated, realizing that she was standing there alone with Olivia's brother Matthias. Her face stiffening, she awkwardly shifted away and looked at the ground. There was an uncomfortable silence between them, only broken by the sound of Olivia's excited squealing from the side of the field as she jumped up at down grabbing Gerald's hands, yelling "Congrats!"
"My sister seems to be having fun." A soft voice called out, startling Erin. She glanced over, unnerved to see the boy's bright blue eyes were fixed on her and looked away once more.
"Hmm." She gave a non-committal answer, hoping that Erin and Gerald would soon be back. She didn't do all that well with people she didn't know.
"I didn't have a chance to introduce myself earlier." The boy ignored her obviously uninterested body language and walked over to stand in front of her. He gave a polite bow with a smile. "I'm Matthias de Pelletier, Olivia's twin brother."
Erin looked him over once more; he was taller than his sister, with similar softer, charming features. It was easy to tell they were siblings, other than his pale coloring and striking blue eyes. She relaxed a little once she picked out the similarities to her best friend, and perhaps sensing this, he straightened up and held out a hand towards her.
Not wanting to be rude, Erin hesitantly reached out and grasped his hand, giving it a brief shake.
"I'm Erin." She tried to pull her hand back, but he held onto it, a smile still on his face.
"I know, my sister has told me all about you." His thumb traced along the back of her hand. Startled, Erin tugged a little harder, her other hand balled into a fist as she resisted the urge to punch him in the face.
"You're my savior," His grin widened, as his other hand pulled out a silver restriction amulet similar to her own. "And I owe you my life." He still held on to her hand as he spoke, increasing her frustration.
He's Olivia's brother, I shouldn't hit him. She thought, uncomfortably, But if he doesn't let go soon...
Before she could panic too much and hurt him, a voice called out to them both.
"Matt! Let go of Erin, she doesn't like touching people she's not close with!"
Surprised, Matthias loosened his hand and Erin pulled away, stepping further back to put some distance between them.
"Sorry." The pale boy looked genuinely remorseful.
"No, it's okay." Erin rubbed her hand, trying not to back away further and make it too uncomfortable.
"I just wanted to thank you for saving my life." He ran his hand through his hair, obviously unsure of how to proceed.
An uneasy silence fell, only to be broken by Gerald's confusion.
"You're bad with touching people? Wasn't the first thing you did after we met was to reach out and grab my hand to help me stand up?"
Erin sighed. "That's... I was already distracted and confused due to some idiot's sudden proposal while kneeling." She reached out and grabbed his hand, "And before I knew it, I trusted you."
"I like the sound of that." Gerald looked pleased, gently squeezing her hand in his.
"Yeah, don't ask me to explain it." As they chuckled at her words, Matthias stepped closer, looking at their clasped hands. Erin didn't back away this time, although she leaned closer to Gerald.
"I hope one day you can trust me too." The boy smiled, a complex look in his eyes as he stared at her. "Like I said, you're my savior, if you ever need anything, all you have to do is ask, and I'll be there."
"..." Everyone paused at that, Erin noticed a very slight furrowing between Gerald's eyebrows as he stared at Matthias. Shaking her head with a smile, She replied carefully.
"Thanks, Matthias, but it's okay. I'm not your savior, I was able to get the amulet through a friend in the government, if anything, they are the person you should be grateful for, not me."
"It's okay, Erin. I know my debts." He grinned, "I'm here for you."
The group descended into a difficult silence.
Finally Aunt Elsinore had returned, bringing behind her a shell-shocked Frederick. She brought him over to a bench where he sat down silently, shaking.
"Better than I expected young man." She patted him on the back, he continued to stare at the ground, his eyes wide with shock. Seeming to expect this reaction, she ignored him and looked around the group before locking onto Matthias. "You. Follow me."
"Yes Ma'am." The pale boy walked willingly behind her, and they disappeared. As soon as he was gone, the tension in the group broke.
"What the heck, Olivia?" Gerald glared at the smaller girl. She shrugged helplessly in response.
"He's a little awkward, I know, but he means well." She looked over at Erin, "Don't worry, it's just that he hasn't really been around people very much, so he's shy."
Shy? He hadn't really seemed all that shy.
"I don't like it." Gerald grumbled under his breath.
"That's because you're jealous. Other guys can talk to Erin too, you know."
"I know that, it's just..." he blew out a frustrated sigh. "...Nevermind. As long as Erin is comfortable."
They all sat down and chatted idly for a while. Eventually, however, Olivia couldn't seem to help but tease him a little more.
"You know, I may have to help my brother out a little. It wouldn't be bad to have Erin as a sister-in-law."
Gerald gasped. "Betrayal! You promised to support my love!"
"Brother trumps friend, Gerald." Olivia grinned. "Sorry."
"But... but you're my teacher in Erin facts...."
"Hehe...class is over now."
"Noooo!"
"Guys!" Erin broke in. "Shut. Up."
They both quieted down, looking up at her guiltily.
Aunt Elsinore returned, and Matthias looked even paler than normal. He sat down next to Frederick, staring silently at the ground.
"What the heck is happening during these evaluations?" Gerald asked nervously.
Elsinore smiled, "You'll find out. You're next." With that she grabbed Gerald and the two disappeared after a few steps.
They didn't have to wait too long before the two returned, Gerald running towards Erin, waving his arms frantically.
"ESCAPE WHILE YOU STILL CAN, ERIN! RUN...!"
He cut off suddenly, looking back in horror at the gently smiling older woman who had rested her hand on his shoulder.
"Shush. I'll see you tomorrow for training."
She turned to Erin, "Come on, girl, you're next."
Nervous, Erin followed her Aunt to the other side of the field. Once the reached the other side, Elsinore waved her hand, a shining clear wall descending between them and the others. Curious Erin reached out to touch it, finding her hand could go through it easily.
"It's a spell, convinces them that they cannot see us, and convinces us that we cannot hear them." She shrugged, "Simple illusion magic."
Realizing that they were finally alone, Erin threw herself into the older woman's arms. "I missed you!"
She felt a warm hand pat her head. "There, there, no reason to get all work up, child. I missed you too." She pulled back, smiling. "Besides, now that I'm your trainer, we'll be spending plenty of time together."
"That reminds me..." Erin looked at her quizzically. "How ARE you here? I can't imagine the government being okay with you leaving the country."
Elsinore winked. "It's fine, I've been developing a grade 5 illusion artifact, makes them think I'm still in my room. I've spent months in seclusion before, so it shouldn't raise any flags for a while. I took the place of some 'Lady Itliss', and here I am!"
Erin hugged her again. "So what did you do to the boys to scare them that much?"
"Not much," her aunt's grin was a little vicious. "Just a little necessary intimidation so they know who's boss."
"You're crazy."
"Runs in the family, dear. Now let's get to your evaluation." She turned to the field in front of them, where a distance had been marked out. "Show me how fast you can run this."
Erin activated her physical and spiritual reinforcement abilities, and then using wind magic, crossed the distance in less than a second.
Elsinore whistled in appreciation. "Not bad." She then led Erin through a series of other tests, from controlling multiple elemental spells at the same time, to doing various physical activities while controlling delicate spells.
Finally she stood in the center of the field, waving at Erin. "Final test. I want you to hit me."
Erin paused, shocked. "What?"
"Magic, physical, anything. You just have to land one hit."
"But what if I hurt you?"
"Don't worry." Elsinore raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't even if you wanted to."
Erin nodded, and then threw herself forward. She went at full speed, trying at first just to tap her aunt on the shoulder... but no matter how fast she went, the woman was just out of her reach. Frustrated, she brought out her fire magic, then water magic, trying to surround the woman, but the spells simply dissipated before they could touch her. Erin pushed, bringing out everything she could, but before long she was crouched on the ground, out of breath, with her aunt standing beside her, looking completely fine.
"Slightly disappointing, Child."
Erin winced at the words. They reminded her of her father. She straightened up, glaring at her aunt.
"If I wasn't restricted..." She held up her amulet. "I could have won."
Elsinore's reaction surprised her.
"No. You couldn't. I've been watching you for years, and you still have the same three weaknesses from when you were thirteen." She stepped closer, poking Erin in the chest. "THREE! And if you don't fix these, forget about winning the competition, you'll never be able to kill that monster of a father of yours, restriction or no."
Sighing, Erin sat down on the ground, looking up. "So what are the weaknesses then?"
"First, " Elsinore held up a single finger. "You don't use the full extent of your powers. This is partly my fault, you know. Ever since you were thirteen you've been restricted to level 1 powers. Now that the restriction has partially been lifted, you're still using simple, level 1 type spells, just with more power behind them." She shrugged. "It's an experience issue, and we can work on that. But until you start living up to your potential, you'll struggle to defeat even people of the same rank as you."
Erin thought over to the fight she had lost in front of her father nodding. "So you can help me with that?"
"Of course I can." The woman grinned. "You're just not going to like the methods." She held up another finger. "Second, did you try everything you could when you were fighting me earlier?"
Erin frowned. "I don't know what you..."
"Why didn't you use your illusion abilities?"
"I..." How could Erin explain, that other than a pitiful image of a flower she made before her father, she had never used her illusion abilities. She wasn't even sure if she could.
Her aunt's expression softened. "We all have our demons, child, you more than most. But you have to let me help you, otherwise you're ignoring a very potent weapon."
"Really?" Erin couldn't help but be skeptical.
"In that fight with you, you used seven different types of magic. I used one: Illusion. You couldn't touch me because you weren't really looking at me. You were seeing what I wanted you to." Elsinore laughed. "There's a reason that people used to call me 'The Illusion Queen'."
"...What's the third weakness?"
"This one is harder, child." She sighed. "You don't trust others. I can't blame you. Your family has betrayed you, your friends have betrayed you, most people you have come across in your short life have either wanted to hurt or use you."
Erin flinched at her words. "But still I need to trust everyone?" Her voice was harsh.
"Not everyone, of course. But in this competition, not only will you have to depend on your teammates... you'll have to lead them in the group battle. If you can't learn to open up a little, trust others and have others trust you... you'll be a liability to your team, nothing more."
"..." Erin looked down at the ground, clenching her hands into fists.
"I know you don't like it, but that's the truth. Right now in this competition you will be useful in the magical theory category, and you have to participate in the group fight, but other than that..." She shook her head. "You would not be my first choice to participate in the one on one fights, unless you can significantly improve."
Erin's head snapped up. "But..."
"I meant what I said, Erin."
"But if my magic weren't restricted..."
"You would still lose, the way you are now." Elsinore stepped forward, grabbing the silver artifact around Erin's neck. "THIS isn't the problem."
She pointed at Erin's heart. "THIS is."
"..."
"You know this, you know this to be true."
"..."
"You don't like it? Good." She started to walk away. "Prove me wrong."
Erin stared at her aunt back silently for a few moments, and then followed behind her.
Once they had all finished testing, Elsinore stood before them, a grim smile on her face. "Better than I expected, all of you. I may be able to shape you into a winning team yet." Her smile widened, and everyone nodded desperately in response.
"Be here early tomorrow. We have two weeks before we leave for the Ellurine Alliance."
She laughed out loud, and the five students flinched at the happy sound.
"Hell training begins now. Be prepared."