The Elemental Trials

Seven

Aurora
It had been three months since we first moved into the island. Skye, Luke, Marcus and I had all continued our training with Alex, and now it was safe to say we were fairly adept in what we could do with our powers. We didn't have an exact timetable day by day - it was far more relaxed than that - instead we just woke up, got ready, then headed out to our own areas to work on what we'd learned. Sometimes we'd take breaks for lunch, or go visit each other, or be taught by Alex how to do something new, but every day we were growing more and more comfortable with both our powers and each other. My fourteenth birthday came and went, there wasn't much of a celebration for it considering I had barely mentioned it to the others, but they took the time to make it a special day for me. Luke's birthday was next up, then Skye's, and since they were the only two who had family outside of the island, whether they'd spend it with the rest of us or head back to the mainland remained to be seen. They'd both seen their friends and families off the island a few times now, they usually left early in the morning with Alex and came back late at night, so me and Marcus were always alone on the island for a full day. Most of the time we just said a few things to each other in the morning then went out to do our usual stuff, but we'd occasionally go find one other and it was fun just getting to talk in our own little space. As for the regular nights on the island, majority of the time once we're all back we'll get dinner, which Alex cooks for us, and then sit about the house, either in the living room or our bedrooms. Living in one house with four other people has, as I said previously, led us all to becoming extremely close, even though we've only known each other for a few months. There's definitely been...a few falling outs, but most of the time they've been resolved by the end of the day. We each pretty much know what the others are like, and I seriously feel like I have good connection with every one of the others. Alex is still mostly a mystery to us. It's weird, it feels like the four of us have never really sat down and spoke to him about his life and such. He spent a lot of time in his study, which was also where he slept - past the stairs on the bottom floor in a separate area from our bedrooms. Our relationship with him was a peculiar one, he was like a friendly teacher who cooked your meals and also lived in the same house as you. Overall I think our lives were actually pretty good, I had to say I preferred it a lot more than the one I'd been living previously. All my life I had only wanted two things; to see the world and to make friends. After Henrik's death I managed to fulfil the first part, and now thanks to Alex and the others I was living the life I'd always wanted. Filled with friends, and love, and people to just talk with on a daily basis. I was happy where I was, and I could only assume the others were too.

"Marcus you little shit! Did you eat the last bagel?!" Skye shouted from the kitchen, searching through the bread bin which was lacking any sign of a certain doughy breakfast food. I took a bite from my toast as I sat at the counter, most of my attention on the book in my hand and only half listening to the two around me. Marcus was on the couch, munching the last bagel, while Luke was showering upstairs and Alex off in his study. "So what if I did?" Marcus said from behind me, his voice muffled due to the food in his mouth "I didn't see your name on it." "Gimme it Marcus, I told you yesterday that it was mine." Skye said, clenching her fists as she stormed over to him. "Nuh. I'm already eating it, just have toast or something." Marcus said, taking another bite. I glanced over at the two of them while this was happening, hoping they wouldn't go too far with this mini feud. Luke walked past the stairs, a towel wrapped around his waist, and I smiled to myself as I caught a glimpse of his *ahem* really visually-pleasing body. His face was obviously gorgeous, and I'd quickly come to discover that the rest of him was just as nice. I went back to focusing on Skye and Marcus, watching right as Skye tried to swipe the bagel from Marcus only for him to pull it out of reach. "Guys..." I said, looking at them in an attempt to be stern, though it seemed they were having none of it. "That bagel is mine dickhead!" Skye shouted, trying to grab it yet again, but Marcus was already on his feet and darting past her as he took another bite. "I got to it first and I'm almost finished eating it!" Marcus yelled back at her as he took off towards the stairs, until with a flick of her wrist Skye used her powers to trip him up and send him flying. "Skye!" I shouted, standing up from my spot and moving to get in between the two. Marcus scrambled to his feet, the bagel still in hand as Skye suddenly sped past me and chased after him. Before she could reach him however, Marcus climbed the first few stairs and turned back around, waving his hand and sending out a burst of flames that hit the bottom step and left a wall of fire burning there. "Marcus!" Skye screeched, running to the side of the stairs and starting to climb an invisible set of her own that she must've conjured up. Marcus sprinted to the top of the stairs to get away just as Luke rounded the corner, confused as to what was happening, though quickly raising his hands in surrender as he came face to face with an absolutely livid Skye. "Luke help, Skye's being a bitch." Marcus muttered to him, standing behind the taller boy and trying his best to pretend he wasn't using him as a shield. Luke didn't seem to have the slightest clue what to do, lowering his hands despite still remaining between the pair. I, in the meantime, was trying my best to put out the fire, spraying water from my hands as effectively as I could, but at the moment I had only learned how to make small beams shoot from my palms and they weren't doing much. Skye darted around Luke and suddenly slashed her arm, firing a slice of air right at Marcus. The boy ducked under it right as Luke turned, earning the brown haired boy a slice through the shoulder as the wall behind Marcus burst into splinters. Marcus took his chance to run to the stairs, but knew he'd never make it down before Skye got him, so took the alternative option of jumping straight off the balcony. He suddenly froze in midair however, being held in place by Alex's air magic right as the man himself emerged from the hallway "What the hell is going on? What did I tell you about using powers in the house?" He looked over at the flames on the stairs, quickly dousing them with water as I ran up and towards Luke. "Oh my God Luke, I am so sorry" Skye was saying as I approached, looking mortified as she stared at the bleeding cut through the boy's plain white t-shirt. "It's fine, it's not that deep. But Jesus Skye, you could've skewered Marcus with this." Luke said, barely bothered by his wound and instead looking at the deep mark left in the wall where the attack had hit. "Yeah well he would've deserved it for eating my fucking bagel!" Skye shouted down at the still floating Marcus, though now that Alex was here it didn't seem like she was going to attack him again. "Luke, let me try something." I said to the boy, holding my hands next to his cut. "Uh yeah...no problem." He said as he moved to be in a better position, letting me do whatever I wanted. I closed my eyes, focusing on exactly what I wanted to happen. I commanded the force within me to exit through my palms, to turn into a floating stream that would enter Luke's wound and heal him back to normal. After a few seconds of nothing happening, I increased my concentration tenfold, but after about half a minute I finally gave up, dropping my hands and sighing. I'd been trying a lot recently to do the healing thing that I had witnessed Alex pull off, but even with his guidance I couldn't quite manage it just yet. He let me know that it was a fairly difficult thing to do however, so I didn't feel too bad about failing, but it still sucked each time I had to give up. "You were trying to do that healing thing right?" Luke said, glancing down at his still bleeding arm "I appreciate the sentiment. Don't beat yourself up about it, you'll be able to do it soon enough." I shrugged but caught the bright smile he gave me, and it was enough to lighten my mood a fair bit. "Skye, you tried to slice Marcus in half because of a bagel?!" Alex asked from the bottom of the stairs, trying to sound cross but ultimately just looking up at her with a deadpan expression - like he was still trying to wrap his head around it. "It was the last one, I called it as mine last night, he ate it." Skye said, crossing her arms as though she was completely justified in what she'd done. "But we're heading out tomorrow...we'll just buy more bagels then." Alex reasoned, still a tad bit taken aback at Skye's severe reaction and not quite sure how he should deal with it. "Hmph. Whatever." She mumbled, making her way down the slightly charred stairs and moving back towards the kitchen. Alex muttered a quiet "Jesus Christ" under his breath, before we all continued with our day as though nothing had happened.