Chatoyant College Book 8: From the Earth

Chapter 44: Overdone

"Really?" Corrie glanced between the two of them. She still couldn't see anything, of course. "How is it different?"

"Well, everyone else's magic is in a particular spot in their bodies," said Dawn. "Mine is in my head, and yours is in your stomach, and I've seen a few other people's magic, and it's in different places. All the natural stuff, the earth and the plants and everything, have magic all through them, but I haven't seen anyone else... wait." She frowned, her eyebrows scrunching together.

"What is it?" Edie asked.

"Professor Lal's was like this," she said. "It didn't sparkle like yours does, but it was distributed all throughout her body. Like natural things."

Corrie frowned, feeling a chill run down her spine. "What about... other faeries?"

"I don't know," said Dawn. "I guess we should try some trance when there are other faeries around, though I don't know how we would get that kind of opportunity. But it can't be a faerie thing. Edie obviously isn't a faerie. Unless there's something you want to tell us?" She raised her eyebrows and grinned teasingly, but Corrie suspected the others were just as confused as she was.

Edie shook her head, grinning weakly back. "Nope... I'm as human as anyone else."

Corrie couldn't help laughing. "Oh, that's not helpful. I'm like... three-quarters human. Or half, depending on how you count it." She glanced over her shoulder, wondering suddenly if the guys they'd seen earlier might have overheard her, but they were gone.

"Seriously," said Dawn, "I'd say I could see you if you were a faerie, but we did figure out that Corrie's history professor is a faerie, he just happens to look like a human."

"Wouldn't iron hurt me if I was a faerie?" Edie said. She held up her wrists, which were still clad in the stainless steel bracelets they'd made. "I think I'm okay. Maybe it's just coincidence that Professor Lal and I have the same kind of magic."

Dawn nodded. "I'm definitely going to check out some other faeries, though. It'll be interesting, if nothing else."

Corrie sighed. "At least you can do that. I still can't seem to connect to the earth energies."

"Did you try focusing on earth magic?" Dawn asked. "I know you thought knowing more about earth magic might help you..."

"No. I should try that." Corrie closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She was afraid she would have lost her grounding, but she still seemed to be secure. Then she focused on earth magic and looked within herself. Her magic appeared the same as it had earlier in the day, so she knew she was doing it right. Then she sent her awareness outward. She took a good mental look at where she thought the earth would be, but she still couldn't sense anything—except the body heat, oddly heightened, of her two friends. But she knew that wasn't their magic. She'd just increased her senses somehow.

She worked harder. She reached. She was focusing so hard she was giving herself a headache when Dawn said, "Um, Corrie?"

Corrie opened her eyes and let out a long breath. "What? Did I do something?"

"Yeah." Dawn bent over and scooped at the floor next to Corrie. When she lifted her hand, it was full of sand.

Corrie started laughing and looked at the floor around herself. She picked up some of the sand, too. "Wow. Okay, I guess focusing on earth magic did that. Well, I feel better." She got up with her handfuls of sand and walked toward the trash can.

"What do you feel better about?" Edie asked, following her with her own handful.

Corrie dumped the sand into the trash and turned around to grin at her and Dawn, who had also come along. "Now we've screwed up and overdone all four elements. And this time it didn't happen in class. I think between us we're quite accomplished."

They all started laughing. When Corrie could breathe normally again, she dragged the trash can over and scooped as much of the sand as she could into it, then got the vacuum cleaner out of the closet and, with some difficulty (it was a big, industrial vacuum), cleaned the rest of the sand off the floor.

Then they went upstairs to see if the rest of their friends wanted to go to dinner, but Edie didn't speak the whole way up. When they were alone in their room putting their boots on, Corrie said, "What's up? You seem like something's bugging you."

Edie shook her head, then nodded, then sighed. "Something is. I'm just not sure what."

"How so?" Corrie straightened up and crossed her arms.

Edie sat down on her bed, kicking at the heel of her boot. "Something about what Dawn said, about my magic being different, sounded really familiar. I just can't figure out why."

"Huh. Have you talked to Leila about magic?"

"Not much. When we worked on the trees it was all her magic." She stood up and shrugged. "I guess it'll come to me. It can't be that important."