Fairy Turned Specialist
Chapter 4
At first, I thought it was just an ordinary day at Red Fountain. Then I saw Bloom, Flora, Musa and Tecna talking to Sky. "Hey girls, what's going on?" I asked, walking over, noticing their worried faces. "Stella's missing." Flora said and handed me a note. It was an invitation to The Black Lagoon from Sky to Stella. "She went there last night, she came back this morning acting weird. She wanted something and when I didn't give it to her, she flew out the window and disappeared." Bloom said. I looked at the invitation again. "That's not my handwriting and I was here last night. I worked out until late last night then fell asleep." Brandon said and I nodded. I never even heard of the Black Lagoon until today. "If you need help or get in a fight and need backup, call me." I said, giving them my phone number. Riven walked past us saying something about Sky not being able to write and I glared at him. Jeez, the guy could be such a jerk sometimes! Lady, Sky's dog ran over and jumped on him, ignoring his commands to get down until Brandon ran over and commanded her to get down. It was almost funny how his own dog refused to listen to him and I smiled slightly. Cortatorta yelled at us from the balcony and I sighed. "Let me know if you find her. Good luck." I said as me, Brandon, and Sky ran off.
"Missing your fairy friends? Go on and join them. You don't belong her." One of the newbies snapped at me as we practiced with our weapons. I swept his feet out from under him without even losing my rhythm and he started a fuss and Cortatorta walked over to him. "That bitch tripped me!" he whined, pointing at me and I rolled my eyes. "Then fight back, boy." Cortatorta said coldly, grabbed the boy by the color of his uniform and shoved him at me. I was using a staff today and he was using a spear. He charged at me, the spearhead pointed right at me. I resettled my grip on my staff, hooked on end under the middle of his spear, right between his hands, and yanked it out of his hands, sending it flying. A crowd had gathered and they scattered when I threw the spear. "Either run and fetch or get your ass whooped." I said to him and he snarled at me but ran to get his spear. "Halt!" Cortatorta yelled and I looked at him. "You let your opponent retrieve his weapon. Why?" He asked me. "You taught us to be fair in all things, that includes a duel. To strike against a weaponless opponent is cowardly and unjust." I said and he looked at me for a second, then said "very good, Ember." And walked away. I stood there for a second, surprised. Cortatorta rarely praised people and I had thought he hated me. Huh, I guess I was wrong.
I was putting my weapons away after oiling them and cleaning them when I got a text. "It's Bloom, we found Stella. Can you come over so we can tell you what happened?" I thought for a moment then responded, "I have a few free hours before dinner, I'll be by soon." Grabbing my jacket and my helmet, I left my room. In seconds, I was on my hover glider, zooming at top speeds to Alfea. When I got to the edge of the grounds, I spotted the five girls waving at me. "Hey, I'm glad you're Ok Stella." I said as I walked over to them, Stella looking tired but ok. "You'd better sit down, it's a bit of a long story." Bloom said and we all sat down.
"Damn." I said after they finished, taking everything in. "How can I help?" I asked, taking them by surprise. "Hang out with us. You are way too serious and your hair and face and clothes need some serious help!" Stella said then winced at the annoyed chorus of "Stella!" Surprised by her audacity and her apparent ability to bounce back, I laughed. "What? What did I say?" She asked, completely oblivious and they sighed in near perfect harmony. "Alright, Miss Wise Fashionista, what so you recommend? Remember I should be back at school in three hours and I have a late-night workout tonight. Also, the boys would like nothing better than to see me looking all makeuped and pretty so they can tease me about it." I rolled my eyes at the antics of the boys. "Why do you go there anyway? Don't you get tired of having to prove yourself to them and them judging you?" Musa asked. "At first I switched from Alfea to Red because I wanted to best someone so badly they would never be able to lift his head from the shame. Now, I want to prove to everyone including myself that a girl can be a Specialist and she can be one of the best. Besides," I said bitterly, looking at my coarse and scarred hands. "People will always judge me. Don't think I don't know what girls said about me after the accident, Stella." She shifted guiltily and the girl's heads turned to look at her. "I never said anything." She said weakly. "You're right, you didn't. We were friends, or at least I thought we were, but you left me to the sharks. A real friend wouldn't do that." She looked down at her hands and Musa glared at me. "Don't talk to Stella like that! You have no right to be so mean to her!" I jumped up, glaring back. "I was burned badly last year. People called me freak, monster, ugly, hideous, demon, sometimes to my face. My friends abandoned me but I begged Stella to stay my friend, to not abandon me." Tears are sliding down my face now, Musa looks absolutely horrified. "You know what she did?" I paused. "She laughed and walked away." Stela jumped up. "I was a different person back then, you know that! After you left, I stopped doing all that stuff, changed my ways, and quit that crowd. I've been wanting to say this for so, so long! I am so sorry!" She yelled and threw her arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder. I slowly unfroze and hugged her back, finally able to forgive her and let it go. "Honestly, did you cut your hair blindfolded?" She asked, holding up a shaggy lock of hair. "Stella!" I said reproachingly and she laughed and the others smiled, the mood finally relaxing.
I walked back into my room, playing with my now shorter but neater hair. I heard a sound and turned to find Kay closing the door behind him. "What are YOU doing in here? Get out my room!" I snarled, grabbing a knife from the wall. He simply smiled and stalked toward me. "Dear sweet pathetic Ember, did you forget that you belong to me? I will never let you heal." He said, suddenly glaring. His hand whipped out and I felt a slight sting and something trickle down my face. His hand whipped out and I felt the same stinging pain this time on my chest. If I just stood here, he would kill me! I yowled and pounced on him like a wildcat, choosing to use my fists. I kept feeling that same stinging sensation all over my body. "What's going on?" Brandon yelled as he and Sky ran in and pulled me off Kay. I wish they hadn't. "I was just showing her my new toy. Watch, I'll show you." I felt that same pain on my shoulder and looked to see lacerations dripping with blood. "You bastard, you son of a bitch! Brandon, let go dammit, I'll kill him!" I yelled, fighting to break Brandon's hold on me. Why was Sky just standing there on his phone?! "Remember darling, as long as you try to heal, I'll be there to cut you down again." He smiled, blew a kiss at me, and walked out. Sky closed the door and leaned against it. "Go ahead, Brandon." He said and Brandon let me go and I whirled on him then glared at Sky. "Why did you do that?! And you, why the hell were you holding me back?!" I yelled, my lacerations stinging and weeping blood. "I have the guys and Cortatorta on speed dial." I blinked. Ok, so what? "Cortatorta has a phone?" I asked stupidly. Sky nodded and opened the door. The three of us walked down the hall, me brimming with suspicion and anger. In front of me the guys were holding a miserable looking Kay with Cortatorta glowering down at him. "Ah Ember, there you are. Those are some ugly cuts. Where did you get such a dangerous weapon, Kayden? Keep in mind, you attacked a fellow Specialist. By all rights, she has the right to give you laceration for laceration." I looked down at him stonily. "Do what you want with him, I don't care. Revenge is a waste of my time and energy." I said coldly, looking at him with disgust now. "You bitch, stop being a coward and drop the holier than thou act!" He yelled at me and Riven punched him in the stomach. "Sorry, but I've been wanting to that for long time." I nodded and walked away. The l