Left. Right. Right. Straight ahead. Right again. Dead end.

"Fuck." She cursed as soon as she saw the wall made of shrubs blocking her way once again.

Professor Pally's challenge for today was a hedge maze, and this time Amber was paired against a light fairy named Selina. It was supposed to be a piece of cake, if only the walls weren't constantly changing, throwing her off her focus.

The first one to get to the blue rose hidden among the labyrinth's passages would win the challenge, and Amber was not going to give up after last week's embarrassing failure.

Right. Left. Right. Shit.

She felt hot anger slowly dripping into her bloodstream, entering her system like poison. She couldn't use the bangle, her magic was way weaker with it. She had to calm down and get to the flower.

The maze moved so quickly, sometimes it felt like it was purposely closing on her, and Amber was getting exhausted by the minute.

Tap. Tap. Behind you.

The familiar tingle of magic guided her, urging her to turn around. She could feel it – the flower. It was so close. But the path was blocked.

Something was wrong, though. She could feel it as her magic was pushing her toward the blocking wall. Every other wall felt anchored to nature, but the one ahead of her was weird. It didn't feel present, like it wasn't even rea— her hand went through the bushes, which quickly dissipated in a ripple-like way.

Once it vanished completely, Amber glanced upwards to see Professor Pally watching her, and behind him was Selina, whose eyes were lightened in a golden shade as she twirled the rose in her hands.

Amber lost, once again.

"Good job with the mirage, Miss Harris," The man said, glancing at the dark-skinned fairy with a proud smile. "You're dismissed."

The two fairies turned to the opening that led outside the maze, but just as Amber began to walk, Professor Pally spoke again, "Not you, Miss Rackley."

Defeated, Amber pivoted to look at her professor, trying to bite down the irritation as she saw the look on his face. He was not happy.

"If you're going to lecture me, just know that Miss Dowling already told me to come to her office today, so I'll save you the trouble," Amber said, not bothering to hide the frustration in her voice.

"Is this what you think it is? A lecture?"

"Kinda feels like it,"

"Perhaps if you stopped closing your mind, you'd realize there are other ways to look at things."

Amber frowned, "That's exactly what I would expect of someone to say if they were trying to lecture me."

The professor seemed slightly taken aback by Amber's stubbornness and turned to look at the maze around them. He let out a quiet sigh, "You were supposed to pass this exercise. Easily. Nature is your birth element, yet you are refusing to truly connect to it."

Amber slightly lowered both her gaze and her voice, "Can you blame me? You saw what happened in class last time. I can lose control and my magic is dangerous."

She remembered Beatrix's words to let the real magic out. And while she had caved in and tried, she really didn't want to do so again. Her magic was wild. Most of the time it did more harm than good.

The man tsked his tongue, disregarding Amber's claims as if they were unimportant, "All magic is dangerous." There was something cold in his voice, it sent a shiver down her spine. "But you are not defined by your magic, just what you choose to do with it."

They finally walked out of the maze. There were specialists training not far from them, she could even spot Jaden from afar. Silva was watching his students, pacing through them carefully.

"I'm not sure I have a choice."

He shifted his gaze from her to Silva. For a moment he stared at him quietly. Something in his expression changed as he looked at the headmaster. Anyone could see something was wrong with Silva. He was pale like his skin never felt the warmth of the sun and the darkness was taking over his light blue irises more and more with each passing day.

The two of them watched as Silva walked around the training area, using a staff to support him. Silva was a prideful man, always trying his best to appear strong even at his weakest. But curing him was a race against time, in which Amber could only hope they had enough.

Professor Pally looked sad. Perhaps he and Silva had known each other for a long time and he was hurting as she was. She almost forgot about their conversation until he spoke again.

"There's always a choice. Sometimes you don't know what it is until you make it."

~~~

"I know I'm not progressing as much as I should have been by now," Was what Amber spoke up after Callum, Ms. Dowling's assistant, let her in the office, already knowing what the conversation was going to be about.

The headmistress was standing straight with her back to Amber, one of her arms leaning on top of her chair as she was staring at the window in front of her

"Progress is not a linear equation. I'm not expecting you to," The woman answered, but still didn't turn around.

Amber sat on the chair in front of Ms. Dowling's desk— the same one she had sat on her very first day as an official student of Alfea. Confused, she asked, "So why did you call me here?"

"You asked something from me when you arrived here, and I allowed it and gave you my word. However, if you want people to treat you equally like anyone else, you can't expect special treatment." At last, she turned to look at Amber, still standing. "That means showing up to your classes – all of them. I've gotten several notices from your history and botany teachers about your frequent absence. Our agreement didn't include skipping classes."

"That's all? I'm only skipping the ones that aren't necessary for me and with everything that has been happening with Silva—"

"Silva is my responsibility to take care of. You are a student. You have your own duties and I expect you to fulfill them just like any other." Farah's pointed glare was as powerful as her magic, and it almost felt like Amber was bound to the chair by invisible magic—that was how scary Farah Dowling could get.

"But—"

"This is not up for negotiation, Amber." The headmistress stated. As she sat down, her features softened, just in the slightest. "Don't put the weight of the world on your shoulders just yet. You're still young. You should enjoy what Alfea has to offer you besides education. I met Saul and Ben when I was your age and they helped me become the person I am today."

The older fairy could see the hesitation rising in the earth's fairy green eyes and added with a hopeful tone, "Sometimes friendships can get us further than any other magic could. Trust me."

Her were comforting and encouraging, but somehow the Eraklyon's younger princess' doubts were still clinging to her.

~~~

"Hey, Amber!" She heard Musa's voice before she saw her

"I swear if someone is going to give me one more so-called inspiring lecture today, I'm going to lose it." The blonde-haired girl grumbled under her breath, mentally preparing herself.

But despite everything, she actually liked Musa. Even with her empath abilities, she always minded her own business, and she also had a habit of annoying Stella which was something Amber more than approved.

Oh, and she made really good tea.

"Somebody here is grumpy," Musa commented as she joined Amber's side. The two girls were now heading together toward their suite.

"I just got two motivational speeches from both Dowling and Pally. My mind is practically melting at this point," Amber complained loudly.

"That explains the burnt smell from earlier," The dark-haired fairy teased with a smile. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, I guess." Amber replied carefully.

"What are you feeling right now?"

"Um, annoyed, tired, and a little curious to know where you're going with this question,"

Musa's forehead seemed to wrinkle in confusion at Amber's answer. "Are you also feeling angry or something?"

Yes, all the time, but you're not supposed to sense that if the charm can block off mind fairies like Professor Pally said. Amber immediately thought to herself.

"Why are you asking?" Amber's voice was harsher than she intended it to be as she stared at Musa with suspicion. Perhaps Musa was more powerful than Amber had realized.

The mind fairy sighed, "I can sense what literally everyone in the school is feeling. Even Dowling. But not you. It's like my magic is weird next to you, like a switch that has been turned off. Sometimes – like now maybe— I can get bits and pieces, but most of the time I can't pick up anything."

How could Amber even begin to explain?

So, I've had rage tantrums like twice a day ever since I was twelve, I can't control my emotions and it's causing my magic to be erratic. So much that I've hurt people in the past and my parents were forced to make an agreement with Queen Luna to acquire a magical charm that can somewhat help me control my emotions. But honestly? Everything sucks, and I don't know if I'm getting any better.

Musa must have seen the hesitation on Amber's face and added, "Not that I'm complaining! It's just that I've been wrecking my head trying to understand it. To see if it might be something I did. Because if I somehow manage to block you off maybe I can try and do it with other people."

"Musa, you couldn't feel my emotions since the moment we met." Amber reminded, knowing that it was going to get complicated if Musa kept thinking in that direction. "It wasn't you."

The realization quickly sank down and with it, she saw the disappointment flashing across the girl's dark brown eyes, "Right... So how is this happening?"

Amber pursed her lips, contemplating whether it would be better to just tell Musa the truth. If anyone could understand it would be a mind fairy who was constantly overwhelmed by everyone's emotions.

"So, when I was twelve I—" Amber began but Musa stopped her just as they entered the suite.

"Did you hear that?"

And sure enough, there was a sound of commotion coming from the bathroom. The girls looked at each other with curiosity before walking toward the bathroom. Musa quickly knocked on the closed door.

"Is it Musa, Stella, or Amber?" They heard from the other side and Amber twisted the knob just as Terra repeated herself with distress, "Musa, Stella, or Amber?!"

They walked in and saw Bloom and Aisha standing by Terra's side, wiping dark stains off her face.

"Well, this is weird." Musa commented at the messy sight.

"Get dressed. We have to go. We're gonna go to the party." Terra insisted.

Amber slightly furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "What party?"

"The Senior Specialists party!" Terra answered, shooting her an incredulous look, "We're gonna show everybody that we're cool and... and... fun and..."

"Hot?" Musa suggested with a smirk and Terra gave her a small nod.

"I just have to fix this disaster first," The brunette said, motioning to the black splatter across her face in what seemed to be a failed attempt at cat eye.

"Okay, move over," Amber told Bloom, grabbing ahold of makeup remover, cotton rounds, and some nearby brushes. She carefully removed all the smeared eyeliner from her cheeks and tried to blend some eyeshadow to the top of her eyelids.

"You're pretty good at this," Aisha complimented as Amber played with the shades and the brushes, giving Terra a bit of a smoky eye look.

"My sister taught me. But I haven't done this in a while so no complaints if it ends up looking like shit." Amber said and the girls laughed at her concentrating look, "Terra, stop laughing, I need you to stay still!"

"Okay, okay! You're so lucky to have a sister like her. My brother is the most annoying creature to ever walk on the Otherworld." Terra said as Amber lifted the liquid eyeliner, preparing to add the final line to complete her look. From the mirror reflection, she saw Musa's expression faltering a bit, but she didn't say anything.

"Okay, I think we're done." The blonde said, leaning backward.

"How does it look?" Terra asked, anxiety faintly laced in her voice.

"Take a look yourself," Bloom suggested with a cheerful look.

Terra turned around and the four of them leaned closer to her as she looked at the mirror with a beaming smile. Amber couldn't help but feel some warmth seeping in as the five of them looked at each other fondly through the reflection.

Terra turned to Amber with a grateful look, "Thank you! It looks amazing. Now we just have to do our hair, and wear some cool outfits – You're coming, right?"

"Umm," Amber hesitated but she saw how the looks of encouragement from the girls around her. Maybe they weren't friends yet, but they wanted her there too, and Amber couldn't ignore how nice it felt. "Sure, yeah."

Musa grinned at her, "Alright then, let's go and get this party started!"

______________________________________

Did I finish writing this like 5 minutes ago? Yep. Is it edited? Barely.

Look, I don't like that chapter turned out in some parts and the odds are that I'll rewrite it in the future. But now, for the sake of the plot – let's move on. We're only in the middle (not even) of episode 3 lol.

Don't forget to write down your thoughts, your comments make my day!