After that practice round we had against East High, Aurora told her father to rescind the previous request he made to the school. We were to attend school like normal. We still decided to reside at the private island as it was a quick helicopter ride away, however, Aurora desperately wanted to secure our victory for Capture the Flag. We were in one such meeting at this point in time.
It was directly a week after that practice match. We were sitting in the student council room in silence. Aurora and I were looking at multiple formations and calculating possible counters and outcomes. Thalia was assisting in anyway she could, though she seemed a bit slower than us. Alistair, as expected, was twirling a pen in his hand and staring out the window.
"Y'know. I think you are making way too big a deal outta this prez." He said nonchalantly. "Like, c'mon! If there is any high schooler that can kick Kaler's butt, I would pay good money to see it. We have him! We can't lose." Any outsider watching that match would think that since we were able to walk away with the overall victory, that our strategy worked, that if it isn't broken, there was no need to fix it.
However, knowing Aurora, she was looking more at the shortcomings of the strategy. Being the one too experience these shortcomings, I was forced to reflect on them too. "Formation Flashpoint relies too heavily on Kaler's overwhelming speed. Those morons from East High showed us that once Kaler has been locked down, we are out of options. On the surface, the plan is flawless. However, we must aware that we could face people like The Phalanx, who is an expert at isolating a one-on-one duel. If Kaler get's caught out, we are in trouble." Aurora explained, still looking down at the diagrams.
"I get that! But what are the chances that North and South High's teams are gonna have a sniper like Zephyr? We were only forced away because of him." Alistair groaned again.
"That's just it. Zephyr Liu was a first year student. The first year students, though rare, are wild cards. No one knows about them. They make their debut here. The capture the flag event is the pinnacle of the Arcanothon. A lot of schools have their pride riding on that event. Each school will be sending in 2 teams, 8 teams total. I want to make sure we are prepared and can best fight what's about to come our way." Aurora finally looked up and glared at Alistair.
However, I was silently listening to their argument. I also realised that I had to prepare for my own events. I am lucky to have Aurora for two of them, however, for World on Fire, I was totally alone. That, and…
"As for you!" I heard Aurora's sharp tongue and ice-cold tone now being turned to me. I suddenly snapped out of my daze and saw her pointing the tip of her pen straight at my face. I stared at the shiny needle like tip of the pen like it was a knife, about to stab me. "You went overboard. Summoning a bloody typhoon in the middle of the field! What are you thinking!?"
I sighed it's exasperation. "Again, for the 14th time, I was pissed off. I'm sorry 'Madam President'" I said her title condescendingly. "At least I didn't reveal my earth powers," I grumbled. Suddenly, I felt the air in the room change. It was tense before, now, it felt heavier than before. I looked around quickly, only to see all 3 of them staring at me. Alistair and Thalia had their eyes wide open. Aurora on the other hand, buried her face in her palms. "Oh shit…" I muttered as I realised what I said.
"YOU HAVE EARTH POWERS!?" Alistair and Thalia simultaneously leapt up and asked. I shrank in fear and regret, praying that I could rewind time. It was a shock to them to discover I could use the air element just as well as I did lightning. However, tri-elementalists are beyond rare. Into the 3rd percentile kind of rare. Most of them are hardworkers, to achieve mastery over 3 elements. It is rare for anyone to be able to innately control that many elements.
"Well…uh…I…" I looked to Aurora apologetically. She was the one who told me to keep in under wraps, even from our teammates till tournament day. She however, was still burying her face in her hands. She was probably fuming with anger, but trying not to show it. Meanwhile, Alistair started to bombard me with questions.
"When did you learn this?!"
"Were you born with it?!"
"Are your parents just like you?!"
The rate at which he asked questions was faster than words could even leave my mouth. Suddenly, I felt a chill down my spine as a weak force of ice-cold wind silenced Alistair finally. I heaved a sigh of relief. Until Aurora abruptly stood up and packed up her things. "Let's end early today. Finals are coming up soon, and I would hate to see any of you being held back a year. Focus on that for now. You, Mr Dakrun, are coming with me!" She announced as she hooked her arm with mine and dragged me out the door.
I was thrashing and yelping, calling for the other two to help me, however, they jsut stared with blank expressions as I was hauled out. Followed by an earth-shattering slam.
****
We were on a helicopter, returning to the Singford private island. The whirling and chopping of the helicopter blades still evident through the headphones we were wearing. Something else that was still apparent was Aurora's unhappiness. She refused to look at me. She was crossing he arms and legs and looking out the window. I hated this treatment, but it was my fault. Guilt and uneasiness struck me to my very core. I had to get rid of it ASAP.
"Hey, Aury. I…" I started
"I know." She said abruptly. Her suddenness interrupted by train of thought.
"What…" Was all I could muster from my hopelessly flustered mind.
"I know you are sorry. I'm not mad anymore, to be fair, you kept the secret much longer than I thought you would have." She explained, still looking away from me. However, her knowing somehow still doesn't fix anything. I had to say it myself. Those words had to leave my mouth, otherwise my conscious will never be clear.
"At least lemme say it myself. I'm sorry for my big dumb mouth. I know you wanted me to keep that trump card till the tourny." I said apologetically.
To my surprise, I heard giggling through my headphones. The soft giggling eventually turned into a laugh. I swivelled my head around to see her holding her mouth and laughing softly. My heart melted and swelled once more seeing her cheerful side. I could not help but smile seeing her look her age, youthful, bright and smiling.
"When we get back, I'm gonna make sure that you pass the exams." She said with determination. I tilted my head in confusion. "If only your brain was as big as your mouth, then I wouldn't have to worry…" She said longingly.
"Hey…" I said, feeling slightly hurt. It made her giggle once more. Her laugh erased any negative feelings I had. I know she is doing this because she cares. I am grateful she does, otherwise, I'd be lost in this world.