"Yes, Rectoress."
The supervisor bowed respectfully and left the Headmistress's office.
Maya sat in a chair, trying to make herself as small as possible, like she was expecting to be punished.
The Headmistress glanced at Maya and sighed. She turned to Daria.
"How did we miss this?"
"They must've rushed the appraisal."
"Then she will have to go through it again," Amanda rubbed her temples as if fighting a nasty headache. "I want them to do their job accordingly, or I will have to do some cleaning. I want a complete record, stating her powers for good."
The Headmistress was frustrated by the incompetence of her staff.
"This kind of mistake hasn't happened before. It's making us look bad, Daria. Fix it," she ordered and sat down in her big office chair.
She was clearly in a bad mood. Her eyes looked at Maya's scared expression as if she had forgotten she was there, and then she smiled at her kindly realizing she was being harsh. The Headmistress stood up again.
"I'll go see to it."
The Headmistress quickly left the office.
Maya was confused. Did she leave Daria in charge? She looked at Daria for some kind of confirmation, but she already had a phone to her ear.
"Wait here," Daria said before she exited the office as well.
Maya was now sitting alone in Amanda's huge office, confused and worried. Unsure of what to do, she was admiring the artefacts exhibited there, wondering if they had any magical properties. She was just about to get up and take a look at Amanda's book collection when Anastasia soundlessly walked inside of her view.
"Maya—" she began.
Her expression was concerned and looked like she had something important to say. But the Headmistress walked back into the office and Anastasia was gone.
"Alright, Maya. I have booked you for a re-appraisal ritual tomorrow. So we can finally clarify if you are a bipartite or a tripartite, and do everything by the books. I'm sorry for all this inconvenience. Could you explain to me why the air supervisor may think you're a tripartite?"
"I had a fight with another student of Air Element. In the heat of the moment the ground shifted. And I think it was me that moved it," Maya admitted. She knew better than to hide the fact that she was in a fight with another student.
"You aren't sure?"
"I don't know how to manipulate earth."
"I see," Amanda furrowed her brows. "Tomorrow, after lunch, you will not go to Elemental Practice. You will stay in the main hall and someone will be sent to pick you up. Understand?"
"I understand."
"You may go now. Get some rest. I will see you tomorrow."
"Am I not in trouble?"
"Why would you be in trouble?"
"For using magic in a fight."
"Sweetheart, if I punished students for using their powers, I wouldn't be running a school for mages."
Her words were reassuring. Although she was in a bad mood today, Maya was glad to see she was still the caring and reasonable woman Maya knew her to be.
When she left the office, students were already discharged for the day. Maya rushed straight to her dorm room. Elena wasn't in sight, but the plank was in its position, suggesting being used.
"Maya?" it was Leo.
She jerked. He always catches her by surprise.
"What?"
He was now unsure how to begin.
"What, Leo? Tell me," Maya was impatient.
"It's that ghost girl that avoids me. She told me, to tell you, to meet her in the academy tower."
"Anastasia?" Maya was confused.
"I don't know her name. But yeah, probably that one."
"I didn't tell you her name?" Maya realized.
"No, Maya. We don't even talk much. You're always busy with something."
"Oh, sorry. These past few weeks were a little crazy. But I have to go now."
"Where? You're always running off somewhere."
"Please, Leo. Don't give me a hard time about it. My life has been pretty turbulent lately."
"I noticed. His name is Adam, right?"
Maya was just about to step on a plank outside the window but stopped.
"That's not fair."
"What is?"
"You don't get to criticize me for who I choose to spend my time with. You have no right. I don't want my every move to be influenced by fear of offending, hurting, or being judged by someone who isn't even alive!" she snapped.
His hurt expression made her regret it immediately. He was gone before she got a chance to apologize.
What was she doing? She was the only person he had here. He came here because of her and she rejected him. Why does she have to deal with this kind of situation? Why does she have to be the one who has to worry about hurting a dead person's feelings? Why can't she be normal, like the rest of them?
She decided to suppress this in her mind, for now. She will have to deal with that later. Right now, she had to find out what was going on with Elena. Realizing she was running late when she walked through lush birch groves that separated their secret spot from the plains surrounding the walls, she would never expect the sight that awaited her there.
Elena was there as expected, but what was surprising was Sarah keeping her company.
"Finally," Elena said.
"And what do we need her for?" Sarah asked.
Elena shushed her.
"What's going on?" Maya was confused.
"We need to test a theory. Sarah, I need you to show Maya how to use fire."
"What?! That's not what… why would—" Sarah became frustrated. "You told me my hunter wants to meet with me!"
"Sarah, hunters are dead. You know that," Elena said.
"You lied to me to drag me out here?"
"Like you'd come if I asked you nicely."
"You, freaking…" Sarah was hissing.
"Elena. What kind of shenanigans are you up to now?" Maya was losing patience.
"Isn't it clear already? I want to check if you can manipulate fire."
"Like hell, she can," Sarah curled her lip.
"She has Air, Water and Earth. Right now, the odds to have all four elements are bigger than only three."
"What kind of stupid logic is that? You suggest that the odds for being a quadripartite, something that was never seen before, are bigger than being a tripartite that is already a rare unicorn."
"It doesn't have to make sense to you," Elena snarled at her.
"I agree with Sarah. That makes no sense whatsoever," Maya said.
"Please! Just humour me," Elena begged.
"No," Sarah was stubborn.
"C'mon. I know you want to know. Do it for Maya."
Sarah wasn't budging to Elena. She looked at Maya to validate how absurd Elena's idea was.
"I guess, it doesn't hurt to try," Maya said, knowing the fastest way for Elena to drop this is if they go through it.
She saw Sarah getting disappointed. "Okay. But you both owe me for this," Sarah surrendered.
They stood by the creek and prepared.
"Okay. We're going to try the simplest thing, called holding a flame."
Sarah explained the gist of it to Maya, with a hint of her usual condescending tone. Then, she pulled out a lighter and lighted it over her palm.
The flame ignited above the palm like she was holding it. Sarah nourished it a bit, so it grew bigger and then was ready to hand it to Maya. Maya joined her palms like Sarah explained and Sarah let it gently slide into Maya's palms.
It stood there, losing its strength and getting smaller and smaller until it dwindled completely.
"Of course…"
Elena's words broke through Sarah's and Maya's silent staring at their hands in shock. The flame did die out, but she held it for a moment without Sarah's assistance.
"How?" Sarah couldn't believe it. "That's so unfair. That's so unfair!"
"Maya, I need to talk to you for a moment," Elena ordered.
"What's happening…?" Maya whispered in denial, while Sarah was throwing a tantrum.
"Sarah, I'd appreciate it if you don't talk to anyone about this. Or I'll have to mention that you've been outside the wall yourself," Elena threatened her.
"Fuck you, Elena!" Sarah turned away and left.
"Do you think she knows her way back alone?" Maya was worried.
Elena thought Maya had a point, or more likely worried about what Sarah could do in their room unsupervised. They quickly sent Sarah off, then finally caught a moment to talk.
"You know what this means?" Elena began.
"What exactly?"
"All this… you. Having all four elements, talking to dead spirits including The One Spirit. It couldn't be clearer," Elena listed the facts.
"No. That's impossible," Maya couldn't accept it.
"You're that impossible, yet you're here."
"Elena, I can't be a Spirit bender," Maya fought it.
"Why not?"
"Because they don't exist anymore. The last one was Anastasia and she died centuries ago."
"So what's to say there can be no more? Just because there hasn't been one, does not mean you aren't one. C'mon, get it in your head."
"Why would there be one now? There wasn't one for centuries. And now all of a sudden, there is? For what reason?"
"Who the fuck knows? It's for you to find out, isn't it?"
"What do I do now? What do I do with this?! I don't want it."
"You can't just give it away," Elena chuckled.
"Everybody's going to hate me."
Maya was having a crisis. She would want this otherwise, to be special. But she somehow felt this held more responsibility than she could cope with.
"No. No one will know."
"What?"
"We won't tell anybody."
"But Sarah knows."
"Forget Sarah. She doesn't know you're a Prima. She just thinks you're a freak of nature."
"That's great," Maya was sarcastic.
"Look. We can easily deny all of this. We can just claim you're a tripartite. No one will believe her alone. She can't prove it. It will only make her sound crazy."
"But we can't keep this a secret. Tomorrow, I'm being sent for trial again. They will know."
Elena pondered for a second, rubbing her chin. "You can try to mess with it purposely. And no one will test you for Spirit, so you can keep that a secret if nothing."
"I think I should tell Amanda."
"No. No, no. She's the last person you should let know about it."
"Why? What do you have against her?"
"I just don't trust her."
"Why her specifically?"
"Look, I've told you already. Something doesn't seem right in this story they sell us, and she's at the top of it all."
"I think, it's just your need for defying authorities."
Elena opened her mouth without making a sound, unable to deny the truth. "You should be cautious of her, anyway. You shouldn't trust people too easily."
"But I should trust you?"
"I'm the last person you should trust," she chuckled. "But I already know all about this, so you don't have much choice on that part." Elena grinned.
Maya stared at her for a moment, then her gaze fell down. This was all a bit too much for Maya to process. She remembered what Leo told her before and began grabbing her jacket.
"Where are you going?" Elena asked.
"I need to clear my head."