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Her magic is all an illusion

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WITH DAYA still struck speechlessly, Harvest turned away, facing the front, jaw clenching, "Don't make me ask again," he grunted not sparing her another look before adding-

"You're assigned to me for the day, Do keep me waiting," he huffed, giving a short smile toward Miss Gisselle as she once again congratulated him, before looking back at Daya, but didn't do or saying anything, casually walking past her, dark and brooding as always.

Daya stood still, her throat dry, as Miss Giselle kept talking, only looking back up at the class when Miss Giselle mentioned her name,

"Thank you for coming to Daya, hopefully, next time we will get you to do something for the class, " she smiled earnestly.

Daya's distant gaze reached hers, seemingly confused for a second before realizing where she was, nodding and then offering a smile, that didn't reach her eyes before excusing herself.

Walking through the empty corridors, she paused for a  moment, trying to catch her breath, thinking back to Harvest's words.

Her jaw clenched, as did her fists, her gaze hardening, shaking her head momentarily.

The little mute she had for a roommate had pulled one on her. She had never thought that the shy, bashful little girl could have both Harvest and Lucas in her corner.

She chuckled at this, unable to believe that this was happening, all sounding like a bad joke to her, or like some sort of funny nightmare that she couldn't wake from.

First Lucas and now Harvest?

Her mind flashed back to the day she caught Harvest in her room with the mute. He had claimed to be waiting for her, something that she had found strange but brushed it off excitedly as progress she had been making with him.

All she wanted to do since she got to Kingsland was to have it under her rule. Every school she had been to before Kingsland, she had always succeeded, always been the golden girl.

Kingsland wouldn't certainly be any different. She already had the trust of the prime, excelling in almost everything she did.

Second to Harvest, though admittedly falling quite far behind, she could easily be described as the most advanced yellow on Kingsland, having exceptional control over her dilect.

Then, of course, she had been dating Lucas Bowne, who only elevated her status to basically queen and sweetheart of Kingsland.

But of course, she needed to solidify her position and make sure that no one else could even think of coming close, and that's why she fought to become Harvests' protege, which proved to be difficult because despite being from different colors, Harvest insisted to Gravis he would take on Raskei.

It didn't help that there was no rule against this.

But with the blood moon, the opportunity arose, and he had no choice but to finally take her own, a small victory on her part.

All that she needed to do since then was to make sure that Harvest fell for her, which should have been easy on her part.

If she could make someone she didn't exactly care about, fall head over heels in love with her, what more someone she was attracted to? Living for the games he put her through, quite determined to win.

Yes, she should have known something was wrong.

From the moment Harvest had chosen Talanda over her during the selection of houses.

Or when he claimed the only reason he had come to her room was to 'talk to her,' and just happened to take advice from a mute girl.

Her jaw tightened at her folly.

One she was not to repeat, only this time she had to be more discreet it seemed. She brushed her hair to the side fixing her face and taking in a deep breath before chasing after Harvest.

She caught sight of him, a few hallways down, as usual, his unbothered self storming down the halls.

She ran to catch up with him, a practiced smile on her face, walking by his side, at a quick pace, glancing at his stoic expression, eyes focused ahead.

She knew he had sensed her quite a while ago, confirming this when he said.

"You took your sweet time," he huffed, as they turned down the hallway in sync.

Daya's smile faltered but she was quick to cover it up, wanting to switch up the heavy air between them with another topic.

She was baffled by how someone like Talanda had managed to grab the attention of both him and Lucas, someone who had nothing remotely remarkable about her apart from her disability which she would hardly describe as 'remarkable.'

But she knew asking about this would not do her any good in the long run. The best she could do was center on her, something she was good at, her flirty face on, brushing a strand of her bouncy honey blond luscious locks off her shoulders,

"so- was I your first choice for the firewall recruits? Finally warming up to me huh? I told you you would," she added.

"Lucas was indisposed," Harvest replied not sparing her a glance.

Her gaze faltered off him, her smile pursing to a thin line, before thinking up something,

"I suggest we take the oranges first," she tried-

"The twins will handle those, we will take the reds," Harvest grunted.

Daya paused at this, jaw clenching, her pacing deteriorating for a moment before regaining her head, racing back up to his pace,

"Well after that," she began, a half-smile on her face, "are we going to continue with the training?" she huffed just before a doorway to an active classroom.

Harvest paused before it, shutting his eyes to try and stop the frustration, contain it, but failing miserable, simply just not in the mood anymore, facing her.

He wondered how dense one person could be.

He had known a lot of stubborn people, but she exceeded the charts,  his eye trailed from the ceiling back to the Daya warning himself to be as gentle as possible though he could never be that, his tone coming out cold and straightforward- the only gentleness he could handle.

"Like I said three weeks ago, and the week before that, there's nothing more to teach you. You already have enough control to stabilize the rest of the shifters," he replied eyes trailing down to her, praying she would take the slice he was giving her.

"But I Struggle with the"

"Nothing, you struggle with nothing," he huffed, now sounding annoyed, "I'm not stupid," he cursed, "Unlike Lucas Bowne, I'm far from being charmed by whatever it is he sees," he gritted out, loathing even the thought of it.

"Your dilect is Selective Deceleration and you naturally have a highly accelerated thought process. You got everything I ever taught you the first three times I said it," he huffed putting one hand in his coat pocket, "you've been stalling for almost three months, pretending that you don't understand a thing, asking me to give more and more work, just so you could prolong our time together. "

Her throat ran dry at this, folding her arms, her gaze trailing to the ground.

"Now I don't care about your reasons for doing it. I don't give a damn about Lucas and any reason you would have to make him supposedly suffer or think that there was something true going on between us. I made mistakes, but I didn't have time to care. Though I admit I found it amusing at first, a few things bother Lucas," he grunted out before his jaw hardened as did his gaze, "but now it's bothering ME." he scowled, "TAKING MY STUFF, " he growled, her eyes dipping to the pendant that hung around his neck, though tucked into his dark shirt, "following me after midnight-"

"I would never tell anyone-"

Harvest took a threatening step forward, his dark ocean eyes set in low, accent heavy and harsh, "Of course you wouldn't."

A shiver ran down her spine at the sound of this.

"You're on your third strike Daya, and I'm naturally not the forgiving type," he growled, before turning away, walking into the classroom, the secondary, who was teaching the class of reds before him stopped.

He turned to Harvest and Daya as they walked in.

"AH, I believe it's our turn to undergo the selection," Mr. Amin began, eyes following Harvest as he approached him in the middle of the class.

He was a Middle Eastern-looking man with a turban wrapped over his head as he stood in the front of the classroom, where all the Reds, were practicing.

Harvest nodded quaintly turning slightly to face the class, all eyes now on him.

Daya stood a few paces back, as Mr. Amin talked, his middle eastern accent apparent on each word,

"Harvest Adams and Daya Lawrence are here to select recruits for the firewall as was mentioned in the Assembly, please follow everything he asks," he commented sending a small grin in Harvest way, "I must warn you," he added lowly, directed to Harvest, "these are from the last cycle, hence they have not mastered their dilects. They lack concentration, as we are only on the conductors, dealing with the elements," he began before giving way to Harvest after he acknowledged this with a simple nod.

His eyes traveled around the space of the classroom.

"One by one, I want each of you to come to the front and try to make a flame in the palm of your hand. Judging by which one can go the longest and largest, we will see if any one of you can be..." he trailed off stopping by a girl's desk, who seemed to be of Asian descent and strangely familiar,  "used." he finished, eyes holding hers firmly.

Claire gulped, unable to stop her heart from running marathons.

She couldn't believe the Harvest Adams was standing a foot from her, fingers trailing over her desk, and oh, those pretty eyes, holding her prisoner, leaving her as dumbfounded as she had been the first time she had ever seen him.

To her dismay and yet to some sort of relief he released her from his direct eye contact moving toward the middle of the class.

"We start from the left," he huffed taking a seat on the desk, eye trailing to the first boy who sat on the far left. The boy stood up a little shaky but moved to the front, blushing when his eyes met Daya before turning to face the rest of the class.

Silenced passed, before Mr. Amin encouraged him to try what they had learned not an hour ago.

The boy outstretched the palm of his hand, trying hard to concentrate. It took a long while of nothingness when only a spark lit for a mere second before nothing settled once more.

The boy hung his head in shame when Harvest dismissed him with an unimpressed sigh.

The girl who sat behind him, next to take part, standing in front of the classroom and attempting, something that she ultimately failed especially with Harvest's piercing blues at the side of her face.

It was five students later when someone managed to make a flame, though it lasted a whole five seconds before dying out.

Harvest grunted at this, as more students walked in and out trying their luck until there was one left. One that Harvest had no hope in, after all, he could tell she was just as love-stricken and nervous as the other girls to focus.

He moved to the center of the room as she approached, standing near Daya, but eyes on the last girl who shyly walked to the front, pushing her glasses back up her nose.

"At this rate, there will be no one but you, and I do it," Daya commented lowly. A scoff highlighting her features in amusement, recognizing Clair.

Harvest paused at this, thinking for a second.

Daya was right, at this rate, he would be stuck with her for the rest of the week. A week he was damn sure he couldn't bear.

He gritted his teeth, eyes set on the girl, "proceed." he ordered.

Claire glanced back at him, nodding, swallowing dryly before bringing out the open palms of both her hands together like she was reaching under a tap of running water.

Yet they were unsteady and shaky, hearing a scoff coming from Daya.

She dropped her hands shaking her head, turning back to Harvest,

"I-I can't" she whispered lowly.

He looked her dead in the eyes, "you can't because you haven't tried," he replied, "focus and do it again." he ordered once more.

Claire's eyes trailed up to Daya's holy gaze before nodding once more, lifting both hands, closing her eyes trying to focus, but she couldn't, she couldn't focus

Not with the whole class staring at her, and knowing that Harvest was seeing her fail and Daya was reveling in the fact that she was.

She was just about to give up when she heard a voice in her head.

"Easy," Harvest's voice echoed in her head, "focus on my voice, let me take the lead."

Her heart pounded inside her, but she felt herself slightly nod, taking in a deep breath,

"Picture the fire," he said, in her head.

She put all her strength and all her might into it, picturing it, and feeling him guide her until she could feel the power surge through her, stronger than she ever had before a literal fire boomed from her open pal, starting in her hands and reaching up near the ceiling.

All she heard were gasps, gasps around her that prodded her to open her eyes staring wide-eyed at the fire she had created.

Daya stared at the open flames in shock, unable to believe it.

"We will take her," Harvest commented, turning to Mr. Amin, whose eyes were wide as he saw the fire.

He was amazed that a new red was able to do and create something like that so soon.

"uh.." he trailed off unable to say anything.

Harvest was about to turn away before Mr. Amin spoke, "she's an illusionist," he finally replied, swallowing when he turned to him, "Her magic is all illusion, even her elements."

Harvest paused at this but didn't seem swayed but rather interested, suddenly turning and walking straight to Claire standing before her, the large flame in her hands between them, but his eyes looked past the flame into hers,

"Illusions," he repeated,

She nodded, her face falling slightly. His gaze moved to the fire, "it feels hot and smells like fire," he hinted before he did the unimaginable, students gasping when he put his ringed hand into the heart of the fire, turning it as if he was roasting, yet no form of pain was seen on his face, " it burns like fire," he stated, taking his hand out and it was completely okay.

Daya's eyebrows furrowed, "burns?" she echoed moving toward him and trying it out for herself, but she yelped as the heat scorched her she had been lit on fire, as was the sensating that was traveling inside her at the moment. Even if her hand remains physically unharmed.

"Yes, burns," Harvest replied, unimpressed by her actions, she caressed her arm.

Claire's jaw dropped at what had happened, but Harvest gingerly turned to look at Mr. Amin, "Even better," he grinned, before moving past both him and Daya.

"Pack up red, you're coming with us," he called over his shoulder as he headed for the door.

Claire nodded frantically but panicked when she realized she didn't know how to stop an illusion this powerful,

"Clap." his voice came through.

That she did,  the fire dying down instantaneously, she rubbed her hands together, ran to her seat, and grabbed her bag.

She nodded to Mr. Amin, who still seemed much too baffled to react, waving at him before running out of the door and chasing after Harvest and Daya.

She caught up with them, walking quietly yet breathlessly slightly behind them.

"Red," Harvest called lowly, and she immediately lifted her head, very alert, "what's your name?" he asked, though he didn't spare her a look.

Her eyes popped but she replied, though her tone shaky, "C-claire"

"Well Claire," he paused, "today's your lucky day because I'm going to train you," he huffed.

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Way to give Daya the middle finger.

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