Elemental Academy

Free birds caged... again!

The four roommates lay scattered across the floor of Quinn's bedroom - which was drenched in clothing and takeout packages. The white dresser had makeup splattered all over it and the water feature had a magazine floating in it along with a sleeping Charity. Dire and Vixen were curled up on a pillow near the balcony doors while Teal had the entire bed to himself. Aria was in the walk-in closet, piled underneath a blanket and clothes. Phoenix and Quinn were on either side of the bed, Quinn with a pillow and Phoenix with her head buried into her arms. Raquel was against the dresser, sleeping upright with an open mouth as her head was hanging over the matching seat.

Vixen crept onto Raquel and lightly licked her cheek, waking up the only sleeping girl. "I don't want to go back to school," she groaned. "Do we really need to go back?" She stretched herself out before turning back to her fox and scratching under her chin. "I don't want to go back, do you want to go back, Vixen?"

Vixen licked Raquel's cheek again as she curled her tail to engulf it in flames. Charity squealed frightened then sprayed water at the fox's tail but some of it squirted onto Dire, and he attacked bolted to attack Charity with a feeble roar. Teal let out a frail snarl then jumped off the bed to aid Dire. They bit at Charity's tail and tried to get her on the floor.

"Teal, Dire. Stop!" When they didn't, Aria raised her hand and a spew of wind sent Dire into the water feature. "I told you to 'stop'," she reprimanded. Teal whimpered and took shelter at Quinn's side.

Phoenix faked a shudder, "brrr, don't mess with mama." Phoenix sat up straight with a yawn. "What's got you in a mood?"

Aria exhaled deeply, "my dad's not very happy with me, right now." She rubbed her eyes as she let out a yawn. "Milton was right, paradise is lost."

A brief knock at the door was met with Smithers' warm smile. "Good morning, ladies, breakfast is ready."

Aria rolled out from underneath the pile on top of her. "We should tidy up, first."

Quinn bolted upright. "You clean your own house?"

Phoenix scoffed. "You really are a rich bitch."

"Not everybody has a salary big enough to hire help," Aria pointed out as she began to fold up the clothes around her. "We'll be right down, Mr. Smithers."

"Never mind all this," he insisted. "Please," he gestured to the door, "I'll see that the room is restored before breakfast is over."

Shrugging, the four teens descended the stairs and entered a dining room with a table blanketed with food. "I retract my previous statement," Phoenix voiced, dazed by the sight of the gourmet breakfast buffet. "Rich bitches rule."

The glass sliding doors were opened and the view of the city was revealed in full splendor as the girls ate. "At least we can say that it's almost over," Raquel stated through the quietness. "'Power Surge' week is about to start; we won't have school for the duration of it; the triskelions are safe; and there's nothing Cade can do without them. Once the Equinox Ball is over, we can call a quits." She picked up her glass of orange juice. "Heres to us, the four roommates that initially didn't get along but somehow save the entire Cosmic. To us."

"To us," Phoenix repeated but Aria and Quinn remained silent in their dread. "Guys, we'll be fine. If Cade does try to expel Aria, we can vouch and tell our side of the story. Plus, we've got a Clockwise Industry's lawyer on our side. We're free as can be."

Quinn exhaled as she turned to Phoenix and Raquel. "It wouldn't matter if God himself was our lawyer," she snapped. "The fact of the matter remains that we illegally have historical artifacts in our possession. The end doesn't justify the means and no court will see what we did as a good thing."