[Chapter 5]

Surprisingly, I found my dorm and room pretty easily. The map they gave was pretty detailed, so I didn’t get lost.

The dorm surprised me, but I guessed I should have expected it in a place as grand as this. The main area –the sitting room –was extra large with a billiards table, a row of computers. It had an extra-large plasma TV mounted to the wall with perfect speakers. There were game stations, and two shelves full of games and movies. There were plush, comfortable seats and sofas. There were massage chairs. There were loveseats. There were corners where you could be quiet and read books in peace. There was a sign that pointed out in one direction. The sign said ‘Pool, Sauna and Jacuzzi’.

I took this all in with wide eyes. Frankly, I felt like a country bumpkin, moving into a castle meant for a princess. This was heaven. This place was heaven.

Surprisingly, there was no one in the main area at all. I guessed that everyone had gone home for the break, but surely there were some people who stayed back? So far, I hadn’t even seen anyone relatively my age. I hadn’t seen anyone yet.

I climbed the spiral staircase to the fourth floor, lugging my belongings up along with me. Penelope had told me that I was sharing a room with someone in the second year. But she hadn’t told me if my roommate was around.

I guess there was only one way to find out.

I stopped outside the room 414 and knocked. I waited and knocked again, just to be sure. No one came to the door. I sighed and drew out my key.

The room was dark, but I guessed it would be like that. I mean, no one would leave the lights on right?

I lugged my belongings in, feeling a little disappointed that I wouldn’t get to know my roommate. I had been pretty excited about it –I will admit.

“Surprise!” The shout sounded, and I couldn’t help but jump and scream at the same time. Okay, call me a timid person. It’s not my fault that I get scared easily.

The light turns on automatically, and I turn around to see a bunch of people in my room, grinning and smiling at me, despite the fact that I just gave a pretty stupid scream of shock.

“Hello, my new Roomie! My name is Dru Lorna! I’m a second year, Water user! I love rock and weird stuff! I’m not a Goth! And I love a new Roomie!” One of the girls in the bunch screamed as she jumped up, running towards me. Before I knew it, I was engulfed in her bear hug, surprised like hell.

Her friends were still grinning at me, like I had won a Nobel Prize.

“Um… okay. Can you… um… get off me so I can see your face first?” I asked a little uncertainly, returning the hug for a short while before I tried my best to get her off me.

“Oh, sorry, how rude was I?” She apologized, even though she didn’t sound very sincere, but she climbed off me all the same.

She had straight black hair that curled at the ends. She had a hello kitty clip that held up her fringe, making her look pretty cute. Her features were pretty well-defined, her eyes wide and deep with hazel. She had pretty, puckered lips and a heart-shaped face. But she had my body size, which was a surprise, because I was pretty short.

“Oh my god, she’s a brunette too! Yay! Black hair rocks!” She yelled when she took me in too, punching her fist victoriously in the air. I wondered why she was cheering for a black-haired roommate. Hard to believe she was nineteen.

“Ahhh! Is that what I think it is? Oh my god, you totally have the cutest blue eyes I’ve ever seen! This is awesome!” She rushed to me again, but this time, she stared straight into my eyes, as if trying to see the color of my irises up close.

I heard a sigh somewhere, and then Dru was pulled from my vision. I blinked to see a guy with blonde, windswept hair holding Dru by her collar, like she was a naughty kid. He wore a neat black button-down shirt with cool black jeans. He seemed to love black, since his watch, shoes and eyes were just black. Except for his golden hair, that is.

“Forgive her, won’t you? She’s just too excited to have a roommate. She was stuck here alone since she came, so you’re something like a miracle that came into her life. I’m Xaviel, by the way. A good friend of Dru’s.” He said calmly, looking at me with his sharp black eyes.

“Good friend? Boyfriend, you mean? You better make things clear with her, bro. You don’t want her and Dru fighting over you.” Another male’s tenor voice cut in, and I saw another guy slinging his arm around Xaviel’s shoulder. The other guy had blonde hair with slight brown highlights. Either the color didn’t work on him, or his hairstylist was color-blind, but the effect didn’t work well on this guy. If anything, it made him look gay. Not that I was going to make any comments about it anyway.

Xaviel sighed and shook away the other guy’s arm around his neck. “That’s Logan. He’s a first year too. But that’s because he failed last year, so he’s got to repeat again.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault they didn’t want cooking! I was pretty hungry at that time, so I guessed cooking something wouldn’t mark me down. Who knew Mr. K was sitting close by?” Logan protested, and I felt a little relief to know that at least someone here controlled fire. Dru controlled water… what was Xaviel’s element?

I saw a hand out of nowhere, flicking Logan’s ear.

“Face it, Mister. You knew perfectly well Mr. K was sitting at that exact spot. Everyone saw you throw that fireball at him. Just because he was sitting by the picnic table with a single slice of raw beef at his side isn’t going to give you a valid excuse for setting him on fire.” The voice –belonging to a female –sounded, and I watched as a stern face come into view.

She had long, sandy brown hair that looked as gentle and frail as silk in the wind. But her facial expression was nothing like her hair. The way she looked at Logan, it was stern and firm like steel or stone. She had hazel eyes too –the same like Dru’s.

She looked at me after a moment of glaring at Logan, and then broke her stern exterior into a gentle, welcoming smile. I immediately decided that she was the leader of this small gang. The motherly figure to them all.

“We’re glad to have you here with us. It’s been long since the school even had a new intake at all. My name is Sarah. I’m a third-year Earth-user. You’re going to be needing a little help fitting in, so don’t be afraid to come find me. And I wouldn’t think of looking for the guys for help, it I were you. Logan’s going to give you a load of crap. And Xaviel, well…” She trailed off, looking at him briefly, before she turned back to me again, “You’ll find out why soon enough.”

I gulped once and nodded, looking at each of them. Here I thought I would be a loner.

“Wait!” Dru yelled, pulling off Xaviel’s hand from her collar, before she bounded over to me again, snatching both my hands in hers and making me drop my bag to the floor.

“Tell me your name! I’ve got to know your name! What element do you use? What is your home like? What is your family like? What do you like? What do you hate? Are you allergic to anything? Do you like to keep things neat? Do you like to cook? Do you want to bathe first in the morning or do you want to let me go first? Do you like anyone? Have you fallen in love before? Do you have siblings? Are your siblings cute? Is he or she older or younger? Is your dad hot? How were your grades? Do you still have your virginity? Has anyone stolen your first kiss yet? Do you have a boyfriend at home? Is he waiting for you? Where are you from? Is your place very far? How did you know about your power? How did you get admitted into this school? Did you explode anything? Did you destroy anything? Have you committed a crime?” Dru ranted on and on, spewing questions after question.

After a short while, I began to lose track of the questions she was asking. I was even surprised that she could ask so many questions in just one breath. How long exactly was her breath?

Sure enough, she wound down a short while. She paused, drew in a long breath, and I suddenly had the premonition of her ranting on and on and on and on. Someone had to stop this, quick, before she released another barrage.

We were all saved by her ‘good friend’/ boyfriend. Xaviel jumped forwards and clasped his hand around her mouth, forcing words back down her throat while she struggled and clawed at him, trying to kick at him.

It was pretty funny to see someone manhandling a nineteen year old like that, and I couldn’t help but laugh a little, discovering that Sarah and Logan found it funny too.

“The Q and A session’s going to have to wait, Dru. Let’s deal with the basic first, alright? We can dish everything out after she’s unpacked, and after the guys are gone.” Sarah said after our laughter died down, but Xaviel still kept his hand on her mouth, just in case.

“So, what’s your name?” Logan asked, trying to sound cool, but he ended up sounding bored.

“Ashe. Ashe Alveron.” I laughed a little at the effect that he failed to portray.

Dru stopped struggling suddenly as wide eyes stared at me.

“A-Alveron?” Logan stuttered a little, and I heard an inaudible mumble from Dru’s covered mouth, in which it sounded like she was trying to ask the same thing.

I looked around nervously, flushing up a little. “Um… yeah.”

Dru claws off Xaviel’s hand from her mouth.

“COOL! YOUR GRANDMOTHER IS ELVIE ALVERON!” She screamed, and we all wince, covering our ears to protect our eardrums from her assault.

“Cool it, Dru! You’re deafening us!” Sarah yelled back, but she was definitely softer and firmer. Dru obeys almost instantly.

I nod unsurely. “Yeah. My Grandma Elvie was the one who got me here.”

“Cool!” Dru said again, but this time, it was in a more subdued tone. Even Logan was giving me eyes filled with awe.

“Well, that’s one question aside. What about your elements?” Sarah pursued.

“Um… Fire. And air.”

“Yes! Someone that shares an element with me!” Logan cheered, punching the air, but the rest were staring at me.

“Wait, wait. Fire or air?” Xaviel asked, looking confused.

“Huh? She’s not of the fire?” Logan asked, as if he didn’t understand.

“Both. I’m both.” I clarified, looking at them, waiting for them to understand and connect the dots.

“No, wait. Fire OR air?” Xaviel asked again, as if he wasn’t sure if I understood him or not.

I wondered why it was so hard for them to understand.

“Fire AND air! Both! Jeez, how hard is it to understand that I can control both? Grandma Elvie told me herself! I’m fire AND air!” I yelled, getting a little annoyed. Why couldn’t I be both?

They drew back at my outburst, exchanging looks. Logan looked a little scared now, but Dru became all sparkly-eyed. Oh no, I wasn’t sure if I liked that look in her eyes.

“Both?” Sarah clarified again, but she sounded more firm, so I nodded at her instead of shouting at her.

“Yeah. Why not?” I asked. I was suddenly reminded by Sniper’s reaction when I told him about my elements. He had stopped, given me a confused look. He had tried to prod me, which got me blasting him.

What was the big deal of me having two elements?

“You don’t understand, do you?” Sarah asked after a long moment of silence. The others couldn’t even seem to be able to talk at all.

“Um… nope?” I asked.

Sarah came forward and put her two hands on my shoulders, looking at me carefully.

“There has been no one who has two elements in a long time, Ashe. The last person who had more than one element was……. Cynus himself.”

Something slams into me. Something called realization. Cynus was… the pioneer of the Faens. I knew that from what little Grandma Elvie told me.

“I… How… Are you sure?”

“As sure as my brown highlights. You sure you’re not Cynus’s descendant or anything?” Logan asked, and I didn’t feel like taking it as a joke.

“I… I need a chair…” I whispered, feeling as if my feet had been taken from beneath me. That was why Sniper had tried to probe me. He had been trying to find out if I was lying or not. That was why Grandma Elvie told me she was proud of me. But Ms. Maxwell… she hadn’t said anything. No one had told me…

“Ashe? Ashe? Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale.” I heard Sarah ask from far away.

I saw a flash of light, and then I was staring at the ceiling, my eyelids closing.

Then I was whisked away into darkness.