Daisy Pragnya: I'm glad you like Snow. I'm pretty sure she makes brief appearances in a couple of the other chapters, and I'm thinking of maybe making her have a small part to play in Elemental.
Chapter 3—Unmelting Heart
I didn't even bother trying to pick her up today. She should know her way around by now and if she doesn't, that's her problem.
I made it to the classroom a little later than I usually did—I had slept in almost twenty minutes, due to staying up a bit later than usual. Time lost cannot be recovered, can it? And to make matter's worse, I noticed that my uniforms were starting to get a bit short. I'm going to have to get longer pants soon. Selene will probably moan and groan about how I'm taller than her—we used to be the same height. Now, a few months later, I'm noticeably taller than she is. If you ask her what her biggest physical flaw is, she'd probably say her height. She hates being short, and Klaus makes fun of her for it, calling her "Shortie" as they banter. To most, it'd look like bickering when the two of them trade phrases, but I can see the gleam in Klaus' eye and the playful anger of Selene's dramatic hand (and sometimes full-body) motions. I wish Klaus would just ask her out already.
When I got to the classroom door, I noticed that those ridiculous flower sisters had surrounded Sommer. I hung back, not entering quite yet. My guess is that they're doing what they did to Selene all those months ago. I'm actually, for reasons unknown, interested to see how she handles it.
"You're Katalina, right?" said the first one. Honestly, I won't remember which is which until they do that name announcement thing they like to do. I try and pay as little attention to them as possible.
"Oh…?" she replies,looking up, "Y-yes, do you need something?"
One of the other two girls spoke, "Hey, don't you think you're letting being Elias' Buddy get to your head?" Of course, it's always about me with them. So annoying. As much as Selene liked to tease me about it, she even got genuinely annoyed with them a lot, and she's pretty good-natured.
"Huh?! Get to my head?!" Was it just me or did she seem a little indignant? She took a breath, "Um, listen...just who are you girls, anyway?"
"We are…!" began the third girl.
"Rose!" Girl one.
"Lily!" Girl two.
"Violet!" And the third one.
Ironically, it was the one with the greenish hair called Violet, while the one called Rose actually had the purplish-black hair. Huh. Never noticed that before.
"Listen!" and here's the start of the rant, as per usual, leading with Rose. "Be amazed and delighted because we're the three who put even flowers to shame!" Pfft. You wish.
Part two, the annoying part, was given by Lily. "For the noble of the academy! For our dashing ice prince, Elias!"
And the location bit, from Violet, "We'll come from the valley in the north to the forest in the east! No land is too far!"
"We are called…" And here's the group name. "Elias'! Number! One! Fans!" How many times have I heard this speal, now? Seriously, if you're going to waste my time, at least switch it up once and a while, will you?
Sommer seemed unsure of what to do. She even seemed a little awed. I guess to someone who wasn't used to the flower sisters, they're synchronization would be impressive—until you deal with them more than a few times.
"Listen up!" Rose continued, "Elias is the heir to the prestigious Goldstein family!" I wish! Forget about those two older, much more talented brothers of mine, did you? "And to think he's buddies with some country bum like you...it doesn't even make sense!" As much as I agreed about the 'not-making-sense' bit, I couldn't help but get annoyed at the country-kid slur. My two best friends came from the country. Well, Selene said she was almost from the country, but it was close enough. If anything, people from the country work harder than those from the city, as a general thing, so you can't really call them "bums."
"Yeah! That's right!" "No sense!" the other two parroted.
"Y-yeah…?" Sommer replied with a hint of 'no duh' in her tone. "...But, it doesn't really matter where we grew up, does it?" Why is it that she's a little more confident when facing these girls then with me? I feel a bit offended. I am not that scary! At least in comparison to Klaus, I'm not...really…okay, maybe a little, to those who don't know me...but still! The flower sisters looked stunned that the timid-seeming girl had stood up to them a bit, and wasn't done yet, "Elias is probably much better at casting spells than me, but as long as we're here, we're both just students. Equals. Social class has no place here." I almost laugh. I think she and Selene would get along well. Of course, Selene gets along with most people, but nonetheless...
The oldest almost flinched, probably remembering the scolding she'd gotten from Selene about a month ago about that very subject, "Hmph..well, what you're saying isn't totally wrong…"
"Don't just give in to her!" the next oldest cried, causing her sister to snap out of it.
"Nn...anyway! We don't accept you as being buddies with Elias!"
Again, you're morons, I think. Buddies can't be changed to cancelled. Do you not remember Selene asking the same thing early on?
"Yeah!" the youngest spoke up, "So don't get carried away, you, you…" she scrambled for a word, "you amateur!" I almost snorted.
Sommer seemed to get a bit ticked at that, "D-don't…" she trailed off.
"Hmm? What's that?" the oldest sister said, sounded pleased, "Did we hit the nail on the head so hard you can't say anything back?"
The girl in the chair had enough, and stood up suddenly, almost shouting. "Don't mess with me like that!"
A classmate bumped into me when he came into the doorway, muttering an apology. I shook my head, realizing that I should probably get to my desk, and started towards it.
"What?" I heard a sister say, sounding surprised.
It seemed Sommer wasn't done yet, "I'd listened to what you had to say...but listen, yeah, I know, I'm an amateur! I know I'm new!" Huh. Maybe she had a bit of spine after all, when provoked. "But it's not like I became Elias' buddy because I wanted to, okay?! I didn't ask anyone! If I could give this position away, heck! I'd wrap it up with a ribbon on top and hand it over with a smile! Elias just gives smug lectures, he's mean, he's stubborn, he's cold…!"
I had been behind her on the way to my chair when she said that. I froze, clenched my teeth, and feeling my face morph into glare. I couldn't keep it out of my voice either. "Well, excuse me for being mean, stubborn, and cold." That was mean of her to say. It's not like I try to be mean or cold. It actually hurts a bit to hear her say it so forcefully. Stubborn I can handle, because I am, but the other two...I don't know why what she said hurt so much, like little needles being stabbed into my heart and then yanked out, taking a second for the pain to sink in.
She froze at the sound of my voice, "Huh…?!" She oh-so-slowly turned around. "E-elias…" she looked mortified, probably because I'd heard.
"Pleasure to see you, Sommer." I said, my words sickly sweet. I could feel my eyebrow twitching with anger.
Anger the sisters could clearly sense. "W-we were just about to leave...!" the ringleader said. "Y-yeah!" "Bye bye!"
"Quite the words you had to say about your buddy." I folded my arms, keeping my voice icily cordial.
She scrambled for words, "I'm sorry...l-look, there's a reason for all this…"
"A reason?" I said, "I don't know what reason you're talking about, but hearing someone talk behind my back isn't the most laudable act." I can't remember the last time I felt this irritated, not even when Selene pulled one of her ridiculous "You study too much!" schemes.
"Sorry…" she looked genuinely sorry. I've no doubt that her words were more due to provocation than anything. But that's no excuse. This is why we think before we speak.
I sighed, forcing all my anger back inside, where it belongs. Where I will make it stay. "Well, it's not like it matters, anyway. Next time, if you're going to talk bad about me, do it someplace I'm not around." If I can't hear it, it can't hurt me, after all. I went back to my seat, inwardly fuming. Seriously, she doesn't need to be so rude! I could hear her sit down, and slide her chair in.
"What's this? Arguing first thing in the morning, Kittycat?" Oh no...the one thing, or person, rather, that can make this all worse! Lovely! Please, notice the absolute sarcasm of that word.
"...Luca." I heard her sigh, sounding resigned.
"Isn't it bad for buddies to argue?" he said, sounding like it was all a joke. Everything was a joke with that moron and his unfair share of magical talent.
"W-well, it's kind of complicated…" Oh sure, just take the easy route out!
"Complicated, huh?" he sounded amused. Ugh.
"Well, yeah…! I mean, uh, nothing…" By sky, girl, if you don't know what to say just don't say anything! At this rate, her constant usage of filler words is going to drive me crazier!
Yikes. I'm starting to think I'm spending too much time with Selene. I just used used two Selene-isms in two sentences.
"C'mon, no need to be shy." Luca prodded.
"...Luca, are you going to stay for class?" Well that was an obvious change of subject.
"Well, usually I skip Potion's when I can 'cause it's boring as hell, but…" I can almost imagine Selene shouting for him to watch his language. "Since you're here…" He chuckled.
"Huh? Me?" she sounded confused. Yes, you. He wants to laugh at you when you inevitably screw something up. Have you not gotten any judge of his character?
"Yep. Looking forward to see how you blow things up this time." And I'm right on the mark. As per usual.
"Huh…?!" she sounded miserable. The bell rang, and Luca went and sat in the empty seat in front of her, his usual seat, as he normally say next to Selene whenever she got him to come to class.
She made it through the Practical magic, thankfully, without magic. And when Professor Merkulova walked into the classroom the next period, he introduced himself to the new student. She seemed relieved, most likely because it wasn't someone like Professor Schuyler. He began the lesson and had her answer a question, which she thankfully got right. At least she wasn't totally clueless. But we haven't gotten to the practical part, now have we? Today's lesson was to create Rejuvenating Water, a sort of minor Water of Youth. It made things age backwards just a bit, and was fairly simple.
I looked back to see that Yukiya had only made his strong enough to turn the plants we were using back to a sprout, and the Professor went over to ask him about it, "Yukiya, what's wrong? You off all people should be able to turn it back into a seed." It was true. Yukiya's best work happened with plants. He once mentioned that he was the one who had taken care of the garden back home.
"This flower finally got it's roots in the ground. I just can't take that away." He said softly. I couldn't help but smile a bit. If Selene were here, she'd probably be cooing over him for that, calling him a sweet and gentle soul.
"I see…" the professor mused, "So you purposefully suppressed your power?" Yukiya probably nodded, because he didn't say anything. "Well, I can't give you full points for this...but, I do understand how you feel. And I think it's wonderful. I'll give you some bonus points." When the professor came back to the front, he was smiling. I went back to my own work, slightly smiling myself. I was ready to put my own concoction on the flower. I felt like someone was watching me, but ignored it as I dripped the water onto the plant. It immediately took effect, changing back into a seedling, then a sprout. When it became a seed, it floated out of the soil and into my waiting hand. Textbook flawless.
"As talented as ever, Elias." the professor told me, marking down my grade as people started clapping. I did my best to fight back a blush and keep my face straight. It's not that great. I just followed the directions.
A slight chill went down my spine. I had a mildly ominous feeling that something not-so-good was about to happen. My guess would be Luca.
"Why do something so complicated? Let's just cut out the middleman…" I'm right. Again. He probably didn't make the potion and will just use his wand. Show off. "Piece of cake." I was correct.
The professor scolded Luca, telling him that the purpose of the lesson was the potion, not the spell. Luca responded that he did the assignment: turned the plant back to a seed. "That isn't the point," the professor replied, going on to tell him the reasoning behind learning to make the potions for the sake of those who can't use magic, and that we can't just use magic to solve our problems. Selene has lectured him on this very same topic—she doesn't use magic if she doesn't have to. She'll do mundane things without it when she can. Luca, on the other hand, likes to take the easy way out whenever possible. Good-for-naught idiot.
Eventually the lecture ended and the professor moved on. "Hmm? What's wrong Katalina? It looks like you haven't poured the water yet." Oh great. He's to her. This is not going to end well.
"Oh, uh, I was just about to do that...yeah…" Boy, she sure sounded confident, didn't she?
"Oh? Well go right ahead." Professor Merkulova encouraged. I slyly looked back to watch what will go wrong.
"A-all right…" She looked extremely nervous. The second the liquid touched the flower, a puff of smoke appeared. That is not supposed to happen. And so, instead of reversing time, the flower started laughing. Loudly. Mocking her attempts. And boy was that laughter loud and high pitched. I saw Yukiya slam his hands over his ears—which were more sensitive than most people's—along with most of the class, including me. Several students started complaining. Oh gosh. How in heck does that even happen? This thing sounded worse than a mandragora, for crying in a bucket!
"Quies!" The professor quickly cast an enchantment and the flower shut professor sighed, "Katalina…"
"I'm sorry…" she sounded completely crestfallen. I glared at her, as you should be—you've probably wrecked my perfect grade! She looked at me and flinched. Serves her right.
The bell rang and Professor Merkulova dismissed the class. He then asked Sommer to stay behind for a minute. If it had been Professor Schuyler, I would've said she was going to get yelled at. Professor Merkulova, on the other hand, rarely held students after class. Sommer really screwed up, it seems. She seemed pretty dang nervous and worried about it, nonetheless.
As I began to make my way to the library, where I was going to spend my lunch, I noticed the students of our class were crowded around the bulletin board outside of Professor Schuyler's classroom. Ah. That's right—yesterday's quiz scores had been posted. I had no doubt that I was in the same place as always: at the very top of…
"No way!" cried one girl, "Elias didn't get first place?!"
I froze mid-step.
"Wonder what happened to him?"
I heard a small, horrified gasp behind me—Sommer. Her name was the very last place.
And mine was just above hers.
I felt my face turn red and had a devastated feeling wash over me. How...how…? I can't believe it...not only did I not end up first, but I wasn't even second or third. I was second to last. I wanted to cry. And hit something. I rushed away from the scene as fast as I could.
"Ah, wait! Elias!" she called after me. I speed up.
I had made it to an empty side hallway when I heard her call out to me again. She had followed me. Why had she followed me?! I stopped.
"U-um! I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" she cried, "About your grades, and about this morning. I really am just making things worse for you, aren't I?"
"That's right." I said, my voice devoid of all mercy, "You truly are." I didn't even turn to look at her. I didn't want to see her right now. I had never gotten such a low ranking in my life.
"Elias…"
I turned around slowly and glared at her, feeling a hot boiling anger in my chest. "Ever since you came here, it's been nothing but trouble for me. Up until now, everything had been perfect. I hadn't ever ranked last in a quiz—I hadn't even mopped up the classroom." I inhaled, "Why? Why are you my buddy?!" This had been the most rotten day I've had in a long time—I get insulted, embarrassed by her moronic magic, and then completely humiliated because of her pathetic quiz results!
She looked like she was about to cry, and whispered, looking at her feet, "I'm sorry, Elias, I...I don't know what to say."
"You don't need to say anything."
She looked up, a bit confused. "Elias?"
"Buddy?" I scoffed, "Hmph. I'll have none of it. If you officially join the academy, as my buddy, I'll just be dragged down by you all the way to graduation." I glared at her, "Who wants that?"
Her eyes widened in surprise, "I...I'm sorry…"
I made an irritated noise, then turned around and stalked off.
I heard her mutter "He's right." as I turned the corner. She's useless.
…. …. ….
Something hit me in the forehead and fell onto my open book. I felt my face twist in confusion as I looked at a chocolate bar, one of the fancy ones my mother liked to send me.
"Thought I'd find you here."
I looked up, and saw Yukiya. How he knew I'd be in the small study room in the deepest recess of the school library, I don't know.
"Do you need something, Yukiya?"
"You're upset. More than you should be." He sat in the chair across from me and looked at me, straight in the eyes. I felt goosebumps rise on my arms at his stare. His face held no emotion, but his eyes...those eyes could stare straight into your soul, leaving no part of it unturned.
"And it matters...why?" I responded evenly.
"It's more than just the test." It wasn't even a question.
"It is." I sighed, knowing he wouldn't leave me alone until I told him, "If this girl is my buddy, every test will be like this. Every grade. And each and every single one of those will only give my father more reason to be disappointed in me. He's always made it clear I'm his least favorite. Percy is a wonder with people, and works in international relations in the Ministry of Magic. Klaus is a genius level wizard who was one of the youngest to earn the rank of Elite Magic Knight—when he was my age! And me? I'm a social wreck who can barely hold a conversation with most people, and no matter how much I study and train, I'll never have Klaus' memory and natural skill. I'm average, and in my father's eyes, I'm already a failure. I can't stand how he looks at me, Yukiya, like I'm useless and will never amount to anything! My only hope was to keep my grades perfect so I down fall below the line—Klaus already has a perfect academic record, and an amazing extra-curricular record to boot! How am I supposed to live up to them? I'm stuck in the shadows, Yukiya, and now my only hope of ever leaving them is gone!"
I fell silent, feeling blood rush to my face as I looked back at my textbook, ashamed. Never, not once, had I spoken those fears aloud. I was pretty sure Klaus knew about them, but I had never verbalized them, those monsters that ate away at me.
"Why do you care what he thinks?" Yukiya said, voice calm, "I know he's your father, but Klaus acts more like one to you."
I look up at him, "What are you talking about?"
"I don't know if either of you realize it, but Klaus pretty much acts like a father to you. And he cares about you greatly, more than I think you realize." Yukiya explained, "And I'm not even the one who originally noticed it. Selene was. So if you don't trust me, trust her. She once told me that she thought you were an amazing person who could do anything you wanted, if you would only figure out what it was you wanted. So, Elias, what is it you want? And if you're so worried about your grades, why don't you tutor her or something? It worked well with Selene and your brother." He stood up, and began walking away. Then he paused. "Oh, and eat the chocolate. It always makes you feel better. I don't want you coming back to the dorm a grump." And then he was gone, leaving me staring at where he'd left in shock. That was probably the longest speech I'd ever heard him say, by far. But what he had said was what baffled me more.
What do I want? What do I want? I've always been trying to become who I thought my father wants me to be. Never had I considered being something else.
And because of that, I didn't even have a clue as to how to change into something else.
Fun Fact 4: Ah, the Flower Sisters. I loved writing Selene's confrontation with them in Elemental, and her constant teasing of Elias about his "harem." It's actually something Klaus doesn't really tease him about (partially because Selene asked him not to and claimed it as her personal privilege, and partially because he knows what obsessive fangirls are like *cough*Darla*cough*),
