The Five Elementals

Chapter 11 - Mitch

Thanks to @Anonymous994055 for getting me to update this time!

(PS, I'm switching to 3rd person. I'm sick of 1st person)

**

This time when Professor Wren blindfolds Mitch, he doesn't try to keep his bearings, and she doesn't try as hard to mislead him. After several minutes of walking, they're back in the hidden part of the castle where the Headmaster's office is. The earthy smell of mildew and old stone wafts by on an invisible draft, and the air feels heavy somehow, as if laden with the weight of Mitch's problem.

The problem being that he isn't magical.

Professor Wren removes the blindfold once they're safely within the Headmaster's circular stone office, but she doesn't vanish like last time. Instead, she takes a seat in an armchair against the wall and crosses her legs, hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Hello again, Mitch." Mitch's gaze snaps to the Headmaster. The imposing woman sits perfectly still in the armchair behind her mahogany desk. Her expression is, as before, unreadable, but she doesn't seem angry. The power emanating from her is concentrated in her yellow eyes, which pin Mitch to the spot.

She's remembered that Mitch doesn't like to be called Mitchell, which is a success as far as he's concerned.

"Please, take a seat." The Headmaster nods at the chair across from her.

Mitch keeps one eye on the Headmaster as he circles the chair and sinks slowly onto the cracked leather. His nervous energy is apparent in his fingers, which trail along the armrests, drawing different shapes while he stares blankly forward. Last time Mitch sat in this chair, he heard a lot of crap about himself he'd never imagined he'd have to hear. The Headmaster had confirmed something horrifying: he isn't magical; he doesn't have gifted blood. She'd threatened to remove his memories and with them any recollection he had of Avi and Kevin. He'd forget about magic altogether.

Let's just say, his memories of the chair aren't exactly fond.

However, the Headmaster had also offered him an olive branch: one month to reveal his element before the other shoe drops. Mitch doesn't see how the extra time will help, but if he can cherish his memories of the Elemental Academy and his friends for another month, then...hey, he's willing to sit in front of the Headmaster a couple times a week for element therapy, or whatever the heck she wants to do with him.

"You're wondering why I gave you a month," the Headmaster says, tilting her head to the side. Mitch nods, not denying it. "The reason is this: I believe something about the elements which many other elementals are not yet willing to accept or do not understand."

Instead of filling him in on her mysterious belief, the Headmaster picks up a small glass dish from the corner of her desk and places it squarely between them. She waves her hand over the dish, and a purple flame flickers to life in the dish. She's a Pryo, then, Mitch thinks.

"It's easy for an elemental to learn their first element," the Headmaster intones. "Mine was fire."

First element? Mitch wants to ask. Something in the Headmaster's tone seems off, different, as if to imply that it is possible to learn more than one element. Everyone knows, though, that it isn't. Elementals are destined to control one element their whole lives. Before he can question her, though, the Headmaster continues. Over the flame, her outstretched hand bunches into a fist. The fire glowers with heat. Beneath, the glass dish starts to bubble and spread.

"The second element is much more difficult," the Headmaster says, and lifts her fist. A gust of air blows Mitch's hair back, and the molten globule of glass raises off the desk to hover between the Headmaster's and Mitch's noses. Mitch watches the liquid glass writhe in the air in disbelief for a moment before looking past it to the Headmaster's face. Her eyes are leveled with calm concentration on the floating glass.

"That's impossible," Mitch says, even as he starts to believe it. Somehow he knows the Headmaster is doing it, is using two elements at once. He feels the power radiating from her, can almost sense its two flavors: fire and air. As soon as he thinks this, though, the sensation of knowing disappears, and he's left with only his confusion. "How...?" The Headmaster had said it was hard, to master a second element, but she looks as controlled as ever.

The Headmaster unfurls her fist and draws her fingers in complicated patterns in the air. A stream of flaming, clear liquid separates from the rest, twists itself into a ring, and - hardening again into a solid - slides neatly onto one of her thin fingers. The Headmaster closes her hand and the power in the room dies out, the rest of the glass returning to the desk as a slightly-smaller dish.

"The lesson here, Mitch," the Headmaster says, examining her new ring as Mitch looks on with a mixture of shock and amazement, "is that it's possible to learn an element, even if it isn't awakened within you on Discovery Day. The only requirement is gifted blood, which you may yet have. You will spend your sessions in here learning how to do this."

Mitch wants to learn an element, more than anything, but he knows deep down it'll never happen. Even after seeing the Headmaster manipulating two elements at once, it still feels impossible. Magic is supposed to be instinctual, natural. Your element is supposed to run in your very blood.

"There's no way I can learn an element in a month," Mitch says, frustration clear in his tone. "You have to give me more time."

"This is the way it has to be. I've set my deadline," the Headmaster responds coolly, yellow eyes flashing with something unreadable. "Don't lose faith in yourself, Mitch. It's not impossible, I've shown you that."

Mitch shakes his head in disbelief. "I don't know, it seems pretty impossible."

The Headmaster leans forward, placing her hands on the desk. The glass ring clicks against the wood. "It's difficult, of course. Few are strong enough to pull it off. Learning a new element requires a certain faith and open-mindedness. I think you'll find, Mitch, that both our minds are very open."

As she says this, Mitch notices with a start that something is glowing around the Headmaster's temples. It's a collection of symbols, composed of triangles, squares, and circles, like the symbols he saw over the heads of the Circle of elementals in Discovery Hall nearly a week ago. It's clear that the glowing symbols represent the Headmaster's power, but unlike the symbols above the heads of the Circle, Mitch doesn't recognize these from his El Ed class. These symbols seem menacing, somehow, and he shrinks away from them.

The Headmaster seems to sense the change in his mood and sits back a little. She doesn't smile, exactly, and the gesture isn't really a kind one, but the intensity behind her golden eyes dims for a moment. Mitch lets out the breath he'd been holding.

"I think that's enough for today," the Headmaster says, pushing back her chair and standing. "I will see you in a few days. Keep an eye out for Professor Wren." Professor Wren stands as well, nodding. Mitch makes his way towards the door and waits to be blindfolded. As the cloth is tied over his eyes, he hears the Headmaster's voice one more time. "You haven't told your friends yet about our meetings," she says in her cool, neutral voice. "Good. Let's keep these meetings secret, shall we?"

Mitch's stomach flips nervously. He hadn't been planning on telling his friends about his lessons with the Headmaster, but even so, it feels harsh to request his silence like this. He knows if he's going to enjoy his last month at the Academy, he'll have to fill in the rest of Pentatonix about his situation, and soon.

"See you later," he says to the Headmaster, instead of agreeing to keep the secret.

Shaken, he allows himself to be led from the room.