Long Forgotten

Chapter 11) Bad Luck

Esula POV-----
My hand was moving on its own. I stuffed all the sheets I received into my satchel and put my head down again. The pain and fear had eased, but it left a horrible headache. When I get back home, I'm asking Steacho if there is a species that can do that. What a horrible power. I'll worry about this later, I need to pay attention to Ms. Amat.
"Alright, let's start with Folia," Ms. Amat said.
"Hai," Folia said cooly. "I am Folia Sei, third year and Nature Empress... I enjoy talking to new students," she added as she glared at me. And I don't appreciate bullies. I guess we're introducing ourselves.
Ms. Amat spoke again, "Okay, we will go down the row, and please add your favorite hobby."
"Oh! Let's see, I enjoy hunting in the woods early in the morning," Folia said brightly. There were several oohs and ahhs. I don't really get why hunting is so cool. Celest and I had to hunt for food when we were living with Ichal.
I turn to Neogi. "Hey, Neogi-" I stopped because Neogi looked like she was awed to the point of drooling. I sighed. Folia finally sat down, and the rest of the class introduced themselves. Flame Empress, Color Empress, Light Empress, Weather Empress, Blade Empress... There are so many different kinds of empresses. Finally, Neogi stood up.
"Neogi Guddnuyser. First year and I'm an Ice E-empress," she stuttered. "I like to p-play piano."
Oh cool! Neogi plays piano! Maybe she can teach me something. A few more students introduced themselves, and soon it was my turn. "Esula Kumo. First year and," I paused, "I like to.. to.. sculpt!" Okay that was a half lie. But sometimes, I make things out of water when I'm bored. They aren't permanent, of course, but I enjoy them while I can.
I hear whispering in Folia's corner. "Sculpt? How lame," she whispers loud enough for the people around her to hear. The students around her decide to follow Folia and tell each other that sculpting was lame. Soon, most the class was whispering. I want to just smash that pretty little face of hers into the ground. I abruptly sit down and glance at Neogi. She wasn't whispering or talking to anyone. At least someone here isn't completely hypnotized by Folia. They don't actually think that sculpting is lame. They just want to agree with Folia.
"So! Now that we've introduced ourselves, how about we do a fun activity?" Ms. Amat says as if nothing happened. Anything to get my mind off of Folia. "We're going to do a fun activity to get to know each other more. What makes this fun, is that you all get to use your powers for this project. I want you all to find another two empresses with powers that could be compatible with in this project. First, listen to what you have to do, though," Ms. Amat explains. "You and your group will have to create something that resembles something you share an interest in. For example, if you all like to dance, maybe you could somehow create a figurine. If your group likes to draw, then you could draw something together using magic. Please have it done and ready to present by tomorrow. I'm going to let you pick your partners, but please try to group up with an empress you don't know very well."
A girl with mint colored hair raised her hand, "What if your group doesn't share an interest"
"Good question. Try to mix in some stuff you guys like. For instance, if you like reading, but one of your partners hates reading and loves music, you guys could do something that involves listening to music while reading," Ms. Amat responds. Sounds simple enough. I don't know Neogi that well, so we just need to find one more perso-
"Mind if I join your group?" a snobby voice asks. Folia. Her voice is the last thing I want to hear.
"Sorr-" I began.
Neogi cut me off, "Sure!" I looked at her in disbelief. Her eyes were shining again. I sighed.
"Thanks! So, I hear you like to... sculpt... Esula!" Folia says a bit too nicely.
"Yeah," I mutter.
"Good. Neogi, you said you like to play piano, right?"
Neogi spits it out, "Y-yes!"
"Then how about Esula scupts things out of water and Neogi freezes them? We can make a girl hunting and another playing piano. Sound good?" Folia suggests.
I clench my teeth from releasing my anger. "S-sure," I say slowly through my teeth.
"Yay! Let's get started!" Folia uses her charm again and Neogi looks as if she was about to faint. My day couldn't get any worse...
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~Next~ Chapter 12) Domina