The Seventh Element

Chapter Twelve

"High Aria!" Violet, one of the third-year girls exclaimed with some surprise as she opened the dorm door to see the Aria High Mage standing there.

"May I come in? I need to speak with Val and Tor," High Aria said.

I raised my eyebrows at this, uncertain what this could possibly be about.

"Of course, come in," Val said at once. "Take a seat."

High Aria entered the dorm and sat on the nearest couch. Almost at once, Cornelius, one of the dorm cats, hopped onto her lap. She looked down and obliged by petting him before looking up at Val and then me.

"I am here to offer for Tor to train with the Aria," High Aria announced.

This was unexpected!

"And what does Noon have to say about this?" Val asked.

"I've spoken to Niccolò and he...wasn't happy-" High Aria began.

"Is he ever?"

The Aria High Mage smiled. "He has his moments. He mostly agreed to train Tor to one-up you-"

Val rolled her eyes. "Oh, I know."

"But, he's willing to wash his hands of Tor as long as it doesn't look like he failed."

Val looked up at me from where I stood at her shoulder. "What do you think, Tor? Willing to try training with the Aria now?"

By now I was beginning to know each of the six elements. While they all trained at the Academy, they were distinctive from one another. Aria were extremely easygoing and trusting. They were accepted by the pretentious Lux because they more often than not came from the same region. The Lux took full advantage of this connection and used the Aria as little more than servants under the guise of friendship.

It was a disgusting practice but one outsiders were helpless to stop. I was curious about how far that dynamic overlapped into training between the elements. I was still relatively new to the school and due to my association with Nox (a hated enemy of Lux, completely one-sided), my experience with them was decidedly limited but I had never seen an Aria go against a Lux's wishes. High Aria seemed to have High Sun's blessing on this. I didn't relish the thought of returning to train with Lux and I had to try something.

"If you're willing to train me, I'm willing to try," I said to High Aria.

High Aria smiled at me. "Wonderful! Then I'll see you tomorrow at the Aria training floor." She gently set Cornelius aside before rising to leave.

There was a brief moment of silence after High Aria left.

"Noon's real name is Niccolò?!"

"Right?"

The Nox broke into amused chatter at this new bit of information.

Vic touched my arm. "This is a lot of change for you, Tor. How are you holding up?"

Once, my first instinct would have been to brush off my friend's concern with a smile and say "Its fine." But that would have been a lie. My new state of emotionlessness wouldn't let me put up an effort like that and even if I had, Vic wouldn't have bought it. Besides that, he deserved the truth. In the past month he had gotten to know me as well as I'd gotten to know him. He knew how much I was struggling. I didn't have to say anything at all.

I heaved a weary sigh.

Vic hugged me.

I would have stood there like an icicle and taken it but Vic was like my family. He wouldn't let me. I rose my arms and wrapped them around him. He squeezed me once as if to remind me what came next. I obliged, squeezing back. Hug complete, Vic let go.

He smiled up at me. "I'm here if you need me."

"I know."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next day, I made the climb up all six flights of stairs to find the Aria training floor to find it wasn't a floor at all but the roof! Before I could really process that, I had the oddest sensation of being surrounded by a litter of puppies.

"Hey, its Tor!"

"This is so exciting!"

"Can you make it snow?"

"That's enough." High Aria said, laughingly waving her students off. "Give him some space."

They fell back readily, though their excitement hadn't faded.

"Tor, you'll be joining our nova, Chase and Denis," High Aria explained. "And, by the way, since I am training you now, you may call me Lucette or Lucy, if you prefer."

"Just don't let a Lux hear you," one of the second-year Aria girls whispered.

I could imagine how the status conscious Lux would take a student being casual with a High Mage. Though, it was certainly nice to see that the Aria weren't entirely under Lux's thumb. Without the influence of the other overbearing element, they seemed to have a bit more freedom where they could be fully themselves.

"Now, I'm sure you've learned all about breathing techniques and how to regulate your emotions. Those are a little more advanced for Aria but you don't have to worry about that. From what I've heard from Val and Niccolò, you're having trouble getting your element to respond to you. Now, most High Mages teach their students in the same way, giving them set tasks to complete. There's nothing wrong with that teaching style but I do things differently. I prefer to let the student lead the way and I help them reach their goals, not mine. So, what would you like to learn how to do, Tor?" Lucette clasped her hands and titled them towards me with a lift of her eyebrows.

This was different. No one had asked me this before, not even Val. I found it refreshing to have someone ask me my opinion on what I wanted instead of telling me what I needed. Though, I certainly had an answer.

"I don't know what's possible. By now, I've seen a few things that various elementals can do. I find it hard to imagine myself having such control over my own powers or what that would even look like. From what I've learned so far, all I know is that I'm stuck with them and they'll continue to grow whether I want them to or not. All I want is to be able to control them rather than let them control me. Is that too much to ask?"

As had happened before when I voiced my inner turmoil, an icy breeze swept across the roof. This time, however, each of the Aria took turns guiding it around them, engaging in what looked almost like a dance before Lucette allowed the current to sweep over the Tower's edge.

The Aria High Mage gave me a sympathetic look. "You want to minimize your powers, pretending they aren't there?"

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

"That's not an uncommon sentiment for nova to have. I warn you, however, that it isn't a healthy one. Your powers will not allow themselves to remain hidden or suppressed. Its why we have the Academy to help young mages safely learn about their powers and their own limits. We want to teach you how to accept life as an elemental mage. Its not easy but the more you fight it, the worse it will be."

This was the last thing I wanted to hear. I looked away from her, frost stretching from where I was.

She left me alone. "All we want is to help you, Tor but in order to do that, you have to let us."