SERENA

PART I: Chapter 11 - Mixed Feelings

Everyone stares at the plant in shock as Serena smiles proudly.

"Are you serious?" Rakon is the first one to talk and he doesn't sound happy. "You couldn't even control fire well and now you control earth too? That's not fair!" He exclaims and bolts out of the room.

Kira looks at Serena for a split second, wondering if she should say anything or not, and then goes after Rakon.

That's not the reaction Serena was expecting. She thought everyone would be proud of her for finally showing that she's strong. But she still hopes her parents will be proud.

"That's very impressive." Queen Nami says.

"Yeah, that's amazing, Serena!" King Soky agrees.

Serena smiles widely and blushes a little. She's not used to getting compliments or to her parents being impressed by what she does.

In reality, the King and the Queen have mixed feelings about Serena's new power. On the one hand, it's good that she controls more than one element because that means she's powerful and will be a powerful Queen one day. But on the other hand, the fact that she controls more than one element can mean that she can become an Omni-Elemential one day. She may become one of those freaks. And that would be terrible for everyone in the Royal Family. However, for now, they're choosing to think that she will only control those two elements and will be a very powerful Queen one day.

A few days later, the King and the Queen are going to announce that Serena can control earth and they're not exactly sure how the people from Elementia will react. They're probably going to have mixed feelings about the situation, just like the two of them, but they're not sure which feeling will be stronger.

Rakon is still mad about Serena being able to control one more element and, because of that, he doesn't want to be in the announcement.

Kira always chooses his side and she also doesn't like the fact that Serena can control two elements now, but she likes to think that she's smarter than Rakon and that she can make him do what she wants.

Before the ceremony starts she approaches Rakon.

"We should talk to Serena and you should be in the announcement." She tells him.

"Why?" He asks, angry that she even brought that up.

"Because she's the Princess, and the King and the Queen don't want people to think there are problems in the Royal Family. And also because it's not good to be angry with the Princess. We should be nice to her."

"Whatever."

"So, you'll apologize to her?"

"Sure..."

Kira just wants to make sure the Princess likes her because she will benefit from that. Even Rafi is always surprised with how smart she is at such a young age.

Rakon and Kira talk to Serena and apologize for the way they acted when she told them that she was able to control earth. They also say that they think it's amazing that she can control two elements. Serena, being the nice person she is, forgives them.

Rafi calls the children and tells them it's time for the announcement, so they get close to the balcony.

Serena is very nervous because she remembers very well what happened when they announced that she controlled the fire. She could have hurt someone and she doesn't want to risk that again. Her only hope is that because she's older now she will be able to control her powers properly.

They Royal Family steps onto the balcony, followed by Rafi and Kira.

"People of Elementia, I know most of you weren't expecting us to do any kind of announcement like this, since the Princess and the Prince already control their elements, but something exciting has happened." King Soky says. "It's with great pride that I announce that Princess Serena can now control earth!"

As expected, the reactions of the crowd are mixed. Some people are cheering and clapping, while other look concerned and whisper to the people around them.

"Serena, why don't you show the people of Elementia what you can do with your new power?" King Soky asks the Princess.

"Kira, give her the plant." Rafi tells his daughter.

Kira grabs a pot with a small plant inside and gives it to Serena. "There you go." She says with a big smile. "You can do it!"

"Thank you." Serena whispers and smiles back at Kira.

Serena puts the pot down on the balcony railing and takes a deep breath, before placing both her hands on top of the small plant. She focuses on the plant growing and on orange flowers.

The plant is growing and she can feel it under her hands, which makes her smile softly. At least something is happening, she isn't failing. The plant grows a little more and she removes her hands from it, revealing three beautiful orange flowers. She smiles widely now.

This time, most of the people watching start cheering and clapping, which makes Serena even more proud of herself.

Now that Serena can control earth like she always wanted to, she can practice in the Earth Training Ground with Nolyn and Kiana. Kiana rarely goes there, now that she's studying to be a doctor, but she practices with Nolyn every week. Sometimes they also go to the Fire Training Ground, where Serena practices and Nolyn just watches.

A few years go by and Serena keeps practicing with her friend. She's almost as good controlling earth as she is controlling fire and her parents are very happy about that.

Besides spending a lot of time with Nolyn, Serena has also been spending a good part of her time with her brother and Kira. After they apologized to her for their reactions, they have been incredibly nice to her and sometimes they invite her to go to the Water Training Ground to spend some time with them and to watch them practice. She's always very happy to spend time with her brother and his best friend.

Sometimes Kiana joins them and the two of them watch their younger siblings practicing, while they talk about their lives and eat snacks.

Everything seems to be going perfectly.