There was no one around the vending machine. I really loved the garden at this hour. It was so peaceful.
"Mina, what do you want?" I asked, looking at her.
"No need," she said at first. But when I insisted, she finally said, "Chocolate milk." I was surprised at her choice since I hadn't expected it, but I grabbed the milk before she could change her mind. After getting a strawberry soda for myself and a cola for Daisy, I sat down on the ground. Smiling at Mina, I handed her the milk and gestured for her to sit next to me. Hope was still begging Jess, who seemed to be enjoying making her suffer.
"Jessie, come on, please. I don't want to go all the way up five floors and come back down again. Have mercy on me. We've been through so much together, haven't we? Aren't we ancient friends? Jessieeeeeeee," she whined, shaking Jess's arm.
"Fine, what do you want?" Jess asked, exasperated.
"Yay! I want a lemon soda," she said, clapping her hands together.
Mina and I sat on the ground across from each other. Jess brought the drinks and sat next to Hope. We chatted about random things while waiting for Daisy.
When I heard two approaching footsteps, I realized Allison was coming too. "They're coming," I said.
"Who?"
"Daisy and Allison."
"How do you know?" Hope asked. I just smiled and pointed to my ear. A few minutes later, two figures appeared in the dim light.
I handed Daisy her cola, and she took a seat between Hope and me.
"Um, hello," Allison said. Her voice really resembled the Water Princess. Now that I looked closely, she even looked a little like her.
"Would you like a drink?" I asked. She glanced at our options, then walked to the vending machine and grabbed a water bottle before sitting next to Jess. We had formed a complete circle.
"We look like a war council, this is so exciting," Hope said, taking a sip of her soda.
"Rachel, your next element is fire, right? You should really complain about that. The Fire Princess will be embarrassed on your behalf—get it together," Jess teased Hope. Since we were about to explain things anyway, she didn't bother holding back.
The three girls waiting for an explanation looked at us expectantly, urging us to finally talk. I assumed Daisy had given Allison a brief rundown on the way here.
"I think it'll be easier if I show you," I said, lifting both palms upward. First, I commanded the air. A small ball of wind formed in my hand, and then I summoned water. "Surround the air," I instructed.
In my palm, it looked like a hollow water bubble, but inside it was air. Daisy immediately understood what she was seeing.
"You're using two elements, and you can summon them even without being near them?" Allison summarized.
"Actually, she can use all of them, but only two have awakened so far," Jess jumped in to explain. I let her take over since my explanation would have been all over the place.
"Rachel is a Leader. The third Leader to ever be born. She doesn't use elements; she controls them. She has the power of control. She doesn't know how it works yet, but sometimes she can even control people's minds. She's done it twice on Jonathan—once in the cafeteria line and once in the infirmary corridor. If there's a common pattern, it's that she was angry both times. You all know how annoying Jonathan can be."
"Scumbag," Hope muttered, narrowing her eyes.
"Rachel was brought here without using any of her powers because her awakening hadn't happened yet. Apparently, that was due to a prophecy. Her awakening is just like that of the Princess lineages. She sees an Elemental Princess in her dreams. A week ago, the water element awakened, and today, just before dinner, the air element did.
I found a common link between the previous two Leaders. There was almost a 400-year gap between them, and both emerged during a war. The records didn't have many details, but from what I gathered, if a Leader is here, it means a war is on the horizon."
I nodded.
"I think Liz wants to keep it a secret, but Liz can kiss my ass. A war is going to start in three years. A group called the Dark Sorcerers will come to take Dohélia," I continued. "Apparently, I have a major role in that war. Though, funnily enough, no one ever asked me if I wanted to fight."
"I guess the fact that the Princess bloodlines are emerging alongside the Leader proves this. This is the first time in Dohélia's history that all four Princess bloodlines have been in school at the same time," Jess said.
Only Jess and I were talking. The others were just listening.
"Rachel, the way you use the elements is a little different, isn't it?" Daisy asked. She probably wanted to steer the conversation away from war. She was right—it was a heavy topic for her right now.
"Yes," I confirmed. "I don't ask the element for favors; I command it. It's like I'm the general, and it's a soldier. The Water Princess told me, 'You are the Leader, you are Control, you are Obedience.' She said that as long as I give orders, they will obey me unconditionally."
"Since Liz said no one should know, you're going to keep attending water element classes, right?" Jess asked.
"Unfortunately. Dylan is either trying to drive me insane or he's scared of me because of what I did to Jonathan. I'm not sure which."
"Oh, that reminds me!" Hope said excitedly. "You didn't do enough, Rachel. He deserved it."
"The Water Princess said she's proud of you," I told Allison.
"R-really?" she asked, surprised.
"After my dream, she told the others how beautiful I was. Then the Earth Princess jumped in and said, 'The girl from my lineage is even more beautiful.'" I turned to Mina and smiled. She looked just as surprised. "The conversation shifted away from me, and they started competing with each other over you all. The Water Princess kept saying how proud she was of you."
Allison's eyes sparkled, her expression lighting up with joy.
"Thank you for telling me that," she said.
I waved my hand dismissively, as if it was nothing.
"The Air Princess also talked about Daisy," I said, looking at her. Daisy seemed excited, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. She was incredibly curious but too polite to ask directly.
"She's worried about you. She said you're still very young and that your power is immense. She calls you 'my little angel,'" I said, chuckling. A look of relief passed over Daisy's face before she blushed. "She entrusted you to me," I added, reaching out and brushing my thumb gently across her cheek. "She told me to take care of her little angel."
"I bet the Fire Princess will entrust me to you too," Hope said, nodding dramatically. Jess smacked her forehead and groaned.
"Hope, I hate to break it to you, but remember how I said the Princesses started competing about their bloodlines? The Fire Princess… wasn't even in the competition."
Jess burst into laughter.
"But don't worry! When the Fire Princess comes into my dreams, I'll make sure to praise you. How else would she know how amazing you are? As far as she knows, you're just the fool she had to visit twice. A cute fool."
"Make sure to praise me a lot, okay?"
"I will," I promised, nodding.
"I don't think you'll need to," Mina suddenly said.
"Yeah. I have a feeling the Earth Princess will do that for me," I said, grinning. "And I'll happily join in."
Mina's lips curled up slightly, and her cheeks started to redden. "If only time could stop," I thought. "So I could memorize this moment forever."
I had been looking at Mina for a few seconds. A few seconds? And yet, her expression hadn't changed at all. When I turned to glance at the others, I realized they weren't moving either. I was the only one who could move.
Before I could even question what was happening, I realized something—I had wished for time to stop.
They started moving again. Time had frozen for about eight seconds.
"Uh, Jess," I said.
"What is it, Rachel? You look weird."
"In the old Leaders' writings… did they say what they could control?"
"No," she said, shaking her head.
"Just now, time stopped. I wanted it to stop, and it did. I almost didn't notice, but none of you moved at all."
"That's incredible!" Hope exclaimed. "Wait, but why did you want time to stop?"
I shot a quick glance at Mina, and my cheeks instantly turned red. I hiccupped. 'Because I wanted to look at Mina longer.' But I couldn't say that out loud. Even I had just realized how ridiculous it sounded.
"It just crossed my mind," I said instead, hoping Hope would believe me. She did—but Jess's eyes told me she didn't. Still, she didn't press the issue.
We finished our drinks and sat in silence. I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes.
"Rachel, don't fall asleep!" Hope's voice snapped me back, and I opened my eyes to look at her.
"I'm not sleeping, Hope, I'm just resting my eyes."
"That's what you said before you fell asleep in the bathtub. You can sleep anywhere."
"Look who's talking," I grumbled. "You fall asleep the moment your head touches a pillow."
"I've been feeling more exhausted as my elemental powers awaken," I admitted. "Before coming here, I only needed six hours of sleep a day. If I was really tired, maybe eight. But ever since I got here, I feel sleepy all the time."
"I still don't get how you wake up at six every morning," Jess said.
"Habit. I had to work, so for the past two years, I've woken up at six every single day without exception."
"You never had a day off?" she asked. I shook my head.
"Before my stepfather died, he left behind a massive debt. I was trying to pay it off, making sure they wouldn't come after Dani. I even dropped out of high school. But the person my father owed money to kept lying to me to keep me around. He exaggerated the amount, making me believe it was far greater than it actually was. Every time he saw me, he would say, 'My beautiful Rachel.' I used to hate myself back then.
I only found out the truth when he tried to pay my school debt and take me away. The final straw was when he threatened me with Dani. I lost it. I ordered my boss to kill all his men and then turn himself in to the police. If he didn't get a life sentence, I told him to take his own life. That was the first time I ever used my control ability."
"What a scumbag," Hope said angrily. "I wish I had been there—I would have burned them all."
"We're not allowed to harm people, Hope. But if it were me, I would've buried them deep underground by now. How could they do something like that? And Dani was only seven, right? How could they involve such an innocent child?" Jess said in disbelief.
"It's over now, Jess. I ordered him to forget about me and Dani."
"Someone is trying to listen in on us," Mina said, her hand on the ground. I raised mine to signal everyone to be quiet and focused on a different sound. I could hear breathing at the corner ahead. I could feel the air moving.
"Jonathan, for God's sake, why are we here?" someone whispered. The voice was too faint for me to identify.
"Wait, Andre. I need to prove that the new girl got help from the Water Princess lineage. There's no way she could have beaten me—I'm much stronger than her. Allison must have helped her. If I can prove it, we'll take her down, and you'll move up in rank too. Ever since she arrived, we haven't been able to use the water element properly."
"The audacity," I muttered, frowning but smiling at the same time.
"What is it?" Jess asked.
"Jonathan and Andre are eavesdropping on us," I whispered. "Jonathan couldn't handle losing to me. He thinks Allison helped me and wants to expose me to take Allison down from first place. He also said that they haven't been able to use the water element properly since I got here, but I don't understand what he meant by that."
"I swear, I'll kill that guy," Hope growled. "But I never expected this from Andre."
"It seems like Jonathan dragged him into it. But now that Jonathan has a plan, Andre is going along with it. I guess he doesn't want Allison to stay at the top either."
"What do we do?" Jess asked. "Liz would never believe Jonathan over you. She knows you. But if he spreads rumors, it could cause trouble. There are plenty of people just waiting for an excuse to hate us."
"Let him spread them. In fact, let's give him some fuel," I said with a smirk. "He won't be able to prove anything because Allison didn't help me. The others won't touch me because they'll think she did. By the time things escalate, my other elements will probably awaken. If necessary, I'll duel anyone who doubts me, and the matter will be settled." I turned to Allison. "Do you mind?"
She shook her head. "No, do whatever you want."
I spoke loudly enough for Jonathan to hear. "Allison, I don't know what I would do without you. Thank you so much."
Hope was struggling to hold back her laughter. "It's nothing, Rachel," Allison replied.
I pressed my hand against my mouth to stop myself from laughing. Mina and Jess were grinning. Daisy looked like she was about to burst.
"This stays between us, girls," I said.
"Of course."
"Absolutely."
"Sure."
As soon as I heard their footsteps retreat, I finally let out the laughter I had been holding in.
"This is going to be so much fun," Hope giggled.
"I was getting bored anyway," I replied.
"Oh, so we're boring?" Jess asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hasn't your period ended yet?" I teased her.
"Apparently, it's still affecting me," she said, sighing dramatically.
We realized we had been sitting for too long and got up, our legs numb from staying still.
The first two floors were for the boys. Allison left us at the third floor. Daisy and Mina headed to their rooms on the fourth floor, while we climbed up to the fifth. There were only three rooms on our floor, and ours was the only one occupied.
Hope fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Jess came over and sat at the edge of my bed.
"Uh, Rachel," she began. "About stopping time… why did you want to do that?"
I knew Jess hadn't believed me before.
"I don't know what's wrong with me."
I needed to open up to someone, and Jess was the perfect person for it.
"My eyes always find Mina. It's like I'm being pulled toward her. The moment she walks into the cafeteria or a classroom, I notice her immediately. Today, she smiled and blushed while we were sitting together. Without realizing it, I wished time would stop so I could look at her longer."
Jess covered her mouth, as if suppressing a scream.
"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!"
"What is it, Jess?"
"You're falling in love, Rachel."
"Don't be ridiculous, Jess. We're both girls. I just feel drawn to her. She said the same thing in martial arts class today. That's how I got this bruise—I was so surprised I forgot to defend myself."
"The fact that you're both girls doesn't change anything. Maybe you're not in love yet, but you definitely like her. Does your heart race around her?"
"Oh, God, Jess. I literally get the hiccups when I see her." I felt embarrassed admitting it.
"That's so cute, though," Jess said with a grin.
"I don't know, Jess. I'm just going to let things flow as they are. Like I always do."
"I'm rooting for you two!" she declared, standing up but still giggling.
"Jess!" I called after her, annoyed.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop. Good night," she said as she got into bed.
"Good night," I replied, stretching out on my bed and closing my eyes.