I opened my eyes, still feeling sleepy but thinking that I should probably get up anyway. When I did manage to open my eyes, I realised that I wasn't in bed.
I was in David's office.
Then I remembered what happened.
I rubbed my head with my hand, the thunder rumbling loudly outside. "Shit." I muttered. I looked around- his office was empty. Where was everyone?
I then heard people coming this way, before the door opened.
"Oh, look who's awake." David said- he was with Kate and Irina, who all had brown bags of food in their hands. My belly immediately grumbled, and I was relieved when Kate handed me one of the bags.
"Oh my." I said, taking it gratefully and sitting up. "Thank you so much."
I tucked in, and didn't stop eating until every last mouthful was gone. I then looked up to see everyone staring at me.
"Uhh..." I began, not sure whether I should be apologising for something.
"Are you okay?" Kate asked, maybe a little bit concerned.
I nodded. "Yeah. I was just hungry."
Irina laughed. "I heard you nearly blew the university up."
I held a finger up in protest, but was interrupted by David.
"She did." David said.
Once again, I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted.
"Nearly killed us, as well." Kate said, but she was laughing. "Luckily David managed to deflect some of it."
I wasn't aware of this. "But you guys were behind the wall?"
Kate nodded. "It seemed to come round the corner a bit." She said.
I clenched my teeth, feeling my face flush. "Oops." I said. "Sorry."
"It was fucking cool." Kate continued, undisturbed by the fact that she could have been seriously injured if David wasn't there. "There was like, lightning everywhere. Thunder was rumbling super loud. Then you passed out and David had to carry you up here without anyone noticing."
I laughed. "How did you manage that?"
"You somehow managed to set the fire alarms off." David said. "So everyone was gathered outside. I managed to sneak you in through the back."
I laughed again, unable to help it. "Wow, I did not mean for that to happen."
"So this Chaos thing." Kate began. "Is that what it was?"
I nodded. "I think so."
Irina nodded in agreement. "Seems like it. Didn't Ronan tell you how to lessen its effects?"
"He did." I said.
"Millie was about to grab her knife but dropped it." Kate said, and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah." I said, slightly embarrassed. "I wasn't quick enough."
"But now you know the signs." Irina pointed out optimistically. "You know how it feels to have an elemental build up. Next time I think it should be easier for you to summon your Prometheum before it builds too much and you explode."
"Next time?" Kate questioned, her eyes wide. "You mean this is gonna happen again?"
"Yes." Irina said. "Usually the Chaos lasts a few weeks for those with one element."
I pursed my lips.
"So you're saying that Millie is gonna have lightning explosions for a few weeks, and then the next element will do the same?" Kate asked. "Seven times?"
When she said it like that, I started to realise how annoying and inconvenient this could be.
And dangerous.
"Potentially." Irina said. "I don't know how it will work for Millie."
"Maybe all seven elements will be condensed into three weeks." David suggested.
"Hopefully." I said. That certainly would be the best scenario.
There was a moment of silence.
"Anyway, what did you want us all here for?" Irina asked.
Of course, I'd completely forgotten about the fact that I had shit to tell everyone.
"Oh, yeah." I said. "Let me call Ronan."
I reached out to Ronan, and within a few moments, he was here.
"What's up?" He asked, and then looked around the room. "Oh, hey guys." He said.
"Millie exploded." Kate said flatly as she ate her burger.
"Wait, what?" Ronan said. "Was it the Chaos?"
I nodded. "Yeah, but that's not actually what I called you for." I said. "I have shit to tell you all."
Ronan took a seat, and then when I had everyone's attention, I told them about last night.
__________
"I have heard of them." Ronan said after I explained everything. "But I didn't think they actually existed after a thousand years of not seeing one."
"So there's an eighth element?" Irina wondered.
I nodded. "Seems that way." I said.
"And this Fujio guy-" Ronan began, "-he stole Adam's uncle's spirit? And he won't wake unless it is returned?"
"Yeah." I said, and looked at Kate who hadn't said anything the entire time. "You okay, Kate?"
"Yeah." She said in thought. "Is it weird that when I think about it now, Adam actually looks a bit like a dragon? Like, not literally, but..."
I nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean." I said. "It's strange."
"So he literally has a pet dragon?" David asked.
I laughed. "I guess. It's made of this smokey stuff."
"Holy shit." David muttered, shaking his head. "I always wanted a pet dragon."
"Anyway." Ronan said, averting everyone's attention back to the situation at hand. "As exciting as this is, I think we missed the discussion of something else that happened today." He was looking directly at me.
"Would that have anything to do with Millie exploding?" Kate asked.
"Yes." Ronan said. "Did you forget what I taught you the other day?"
I shook my head. "No, it just happened a little quicker than I expected. I was too slow in summoning the Black Prometheum."
"You were so close, though." Kate chimed in.
I chuckled.
Ronan narrowed his eyes a little. "It doesn't normally happen so bad that you can't summon your Prometheum." He said. "Was it literally that bad?"
"It was a mega explosion." David said. "I wasn't expecting it to be that big."
"So it seems that your Chaos is going to be worse than we anticipated." Ronan said in thought.
I pulled a face and sighed. Why was this always the case?
"The fact that you were barely able to summon your blade isn't good." Ronan continued. "If you ever feel even a little bit like you have more energy than normal, you should dispel it straight away. We can't risk you exploding in public."
I nodded.
"And it wasn't even your strongest element." Irina added. "Who knows what it will be like with the ice?"
"Exactly." Ronan said. "You need to be extra careful."
I exchanged a look with Kate. I knew this was serious, but at the same time I felt like I was being lectured by my parents. Kate knew it, too. I coughed to stifle a laugh.
"Yeah." I said, agreeing. "I should probably go and check on Adam."
"Don't do anything without consulting at least one of us." Ronan said, motioning to the people in the room. He then lingered on Kate. "Kate doesn't count."
Kate pouted and stuck her tongue out immaturely. I laughed, though.
"This Fujio sounds dangerous." Ronan added.
"Yeah, whatever." I said. "You know I wouldn't, anyway. Why would I have told you in the first place?"
"Because we were bound to find out sooner or later." Ronan pointed out. "And you knew I would be pissed if you didn't tell me."
I nodded, agreeing. When I'd first become an Argent, telling Ronan supernatural things was not at the top of my agenda and often resulted in someone getting hurt. I'd definitely learned my lesson on that front.
"Only if you give me a lift, though." I said, smiling.
Ronan sighed. "Fine."
"Besides, I reckon it would be good if you met Adam." I said. "I think you could help."
He nodded in agreement. "Okay. I have so many questions I'd like to ask him."
I chuckled- I mean, of course Ronan did. He thought he'd seen everything in his long lifetime, but now it seemed that there were other supernatural beings out there he didn't know about. I couldn't imagine how curious he must be about it all.
Ronan took my shoulder, and I imagined where I wanted us to go before the ground left our feet.
__________