《Powerful》


 Off to the Village, I Guess

    ¡°I¡¯m bored,¡± Phila Dhoor complained to her adopted sisters. She twirled her short purple hair around her finger, her blue eyes piercing menacingly. She always had purple hair when she was bored.


    ¡°You¡¯re always bored,¡± Ellasome Kaze grumbled, rubbing her long, feathered wings. She hadn¡¯t had a chance to stretch them in ages.


    ¡°For good reason, we¡¯re doing nothing,¡± said Sahara Bhadur in a pretzel.


    ¡°Yes, for a good reason,¡± said Phila mocking Sahara by morphing into her. Sahara rolled her eyes at her. ¡°No but seriously, we should do something.¡±


    Sahara got up and fell down in plank form but stopped herself with a pulsing purple forcefield before she reached the ground. ¡°Who wants to try trust falls?¡±


    ¡°The last time you did that I ended up with a bloody nose,¡± grumbled Phila. ¡°We should venture out to the outside world. When was the last time father let us outside the mansion? 6 years ago! Ever since Vatrahos took over.¡± She looked at her sisters while growing an extra eye to freak them out.


    ¡°Ok Phila, stop,¡± said Sahara shielding her eyes. Phila sighed as she morphed into a typical teenager and looked out the window.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the town,¡± said Phila.


    ¡°What if we¡¯re seen by the royal guard? I can go invisibly,¡± said Sahara sparking her fingers so that they flickered out of sight.


    ¡°Ella is the only one we have to worry about,¡± said Phila. ¡°I¡¯ll use texture as we sneak out.¡±


    ¡°How about I just fly out this window and meet you at the bottom?¡± asked Ella, who everyone forgot to account for.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Ok when you get to the bottom make sure you strap up,¡± said Sahara. Ella pulled on her specially made leather jacket. ¡°Perfect.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn''t you and Phila wear a disguise so you¡¯re not caught?¡± said Sahara, looking at their appearances. In dinner parties, they were too noticeable. Phila¡¯s hair changed with her mood, and sometimes she couldn¡¯t hold an appearance for too long. Ella always needed to itch her wrapped wings, which attracted a lot of attention. Sahara had no problem except when in really bright lights she turned transparent, but not invisible, with shock white hair and orange eyes randomly peering out from a silhouette caused panic.


    ¡°Nah I¡¯m fine,¡± said Phila. ¡°I can control myself. I¡¯ve been practicing.¡± she playfully sprouted an antenna from her forehead which got disapproving looks.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m good too. Leather jackets are totally in fashion!¡± said Ella. Sahara nodded approvingly.


    ¡°Ok, Ella, meet you at the bottom, Phila come with me,¡± said Sahara. Ella opened the window and jumped out.


    ¡°Wait, so why didn¡¯t we ever think to escape before?¡± Sahara asked.


    ¡°We have, don¡¯t you remember? Or did father¡¯s memory wipe affect you? It never affects me,¡± said Phila.


    ¡°Memory wipe?¡± Sahara asked, confused.


    ¡°Oh gosh did he wipe that too?¡± said Phila shaking her head before acquiring the texture of the bricks behind her. ¡°What didn¡¯t he do?¡±


    ¡°Let us free,¡± grumbled Sahara vanishing from sight. One of the butlers noticed a disturbance in the carpet where Sahara stepped. Quickly, Phila jumped down from the wall and covered it up. The butler peered at the carpet closely and circled it. Phila tried to hold her shape for as long as she could, but luckily the butler left the room just as she collapsed.


    ¡°I thought you could hold your power?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°Not when you¡¯re doing a twister pose!¡± said Phila bent over weird with her head between her legs. ¡°Be more careful!¡±


    The girls finally exited the mansion and met Ella outside.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go! I brought some inconspicuous clothing,¡± said Ella handing them both a leather jacket.


    ¡°No thanks,¡± said Phila, declining. ¡°I¡¯m technically naked anyways.¡± Ella cringed at the thought of it. She hated being reminded that Phila¡¯s clothes were an illusion.


    ¡°Um, no,¡± said Sahara handing the jacket back to Ella. ¡°That¡¯s your style.¡± Ella shrugged.


    ¡°Off to the village, I guess,¡± said Ella.

 The Incident

    Being kept inside the house for many years, the girls were completely enamored with the villiage they were traipsing through.


    ¡°It¡¯s so big!¡± said Phila, growing eyes on top of her head so she could look around better. Sahara pinched her and Phila shaped back to the acne-skinned teenager she had taken the form of.


    ¡°Phila, stop it,¡± hissed Ella in her ear. Phila frowned, careful not to let her hair change. Ella was looking around, when she spotted him. The hottest guy she had ever seen, with dimples and flippy brown hair. His blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight. Ella¡¯s eyes grew wider. She hadn¡¯t seen a boy her age of 15 since they were locked away. At full speed, which was faster than a car, she raced over to him.


    ¡°Ella!¡± yelled Phila and Sahara rushing to catch up with her. Ella had zero knowledge of the outside world, and how normal people were supposed to act.


    ¡°Hi I¡¯m Ella,¡± said Ella introducing herself. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± The boy looked at her nervously.


    ¡°I¡¯m Danny,¡± he said awkwardly.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re perfection,¡± said Ella, her eyes getting big and awkward close to his face.


    ¡°Back off, please,¡± said Danny as Ella pushed him down to the bench.


    ¡°Ella! He said enough,¡± said Phila grabbing onto Ella¡¯s shoulders. Ella tried to shake Phila off, but couldn¡¯t. Sahara grabbed Ella¡¯s other shoulder.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Ella!¡± yelled Sahara to Ella. Ella couldn¡¯t take it anymore, her wings burst out of her jacket and hit Sahara and Phila aside. Danny¡¯s eyes got wide.


    ¡°You...you..,¡± he said slowly backing up. It was then, that Ella realized what she had done. There was a crowd of people gawking and taking photos. She turned around. Phila¡¯s nose was bleeding, and purple blood was spewing out. She accidentally morphed her nose into another to try to cover it up.


    ¡°Phila?¡± asked Ella worried. Ella flew over to Phila and Phila grabbed Ella¡¯s arms and soared like a hang glider. But Ella was not used to using her wings, and crashed into a Dunkin Donuts.


    ¡°Look at the freaks!¡± yelled one of the people in the crowd. Ella was curled up in a ball on the ground and Phila had literal stars floating around her head. People were poking her to make her shift into different faces with odd accessories.


    Sahara was battling a different problem. Some little kids figured out she turned partially invisible with flashlights, and were shining them onto different parts of her body.


    ¡°Stop,¡± she moaned. Suddenly, the whole town froze. Sahara looked up. Father was there in his hovercraft along with his body guards.


    ¡°Do you girls know how much effort it will take me to wipe each and every single person here¡¯s memory?¡± he asked them. They shook their heads. ¡°And to top that, they Instagramed it too. So I have to wipe over the internet. Do you know how exhausted I will be?¡± The girls looked down at the ground.


    ¡°Step into the hovercraft,¡± said Father. The girls obeyed. ¡°I could wipe your memories clean right now, but I¡¯m going to leave them, so you remember how much pain you¡¯ve been through. You need to remember how you were publicly humiliated by the common folks.¡± Father froze and his veins started bulging out of his head. White symbols started flowing forth to him as he clenched his fists and teeth. He suddenly collapsed onto the hovercraft. Ella noticed that his hair got whiter and his face paler.


    ¡°We are leaving,¡± said one of the bodyguards driving the hovercraft away. Sahara watched as everyone in the city returned to what they were doing.

 The Decision

    ¡°As you may have noticed, my memory wiping is draining my energy,¡± said Father. ¡°I can¡¯t be having episodes like this every other week!¡± Sahara and Ella looked at each other confused but Phila looked away. She then pretended to be confused like the others. Father didn¡¯t know that since she was always changing, the memory wipe wouldn¡¯t work on her.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t take care of you anymore,¡± said Father. ¡°I knew you were going to be trouble since I picked Sahara up from the adoption center.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you said we were all from the adoption center,¡± said Ella, looking worriedly at Father.


    ¡°No, Ella, you were the reason I got Sahara. You were placed on my doorstep. And Phila was created through illegal genetic experiments done on chameleons,¡± said Father. Phila grew an extra 6 eyes just to glare at him.


    ¡°Actually, we don¡¯t know where you came from Phila, we just kinda found you in the house playing with the other girls one day,¡± said Father. The girls looked at each other. They had grown up believing that they were all abandoned at an orphanage for empowered beings because their parents couldn¡¯t take care of them. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°But back to the point, I can¡¯t take care of you anymore. So I¡¯m sending you to a boarding school,¡± said Father. ¡°Madame Myalo¡¯s School for Empowered Individuals¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that school for delinquents?¡± asked Sahara. ¡°We aren¡¯t that bad, are we?¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s a boarding school. We¡¯ll never see you again!¡± cried Ella.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t miss me,¡± said Father as he used his memory wipe on them to destroy every single last memory of him in their lives.


    ¡°No!¡± yelled Phila, but it was too late. Father had collapsed dead on the floor as Ella and Sahara slumped over. Phila slumped onto the floor and closed her eyes. She felt herself being picked up by one of the bodyguards. After a few eternities later, which was about five minutes, she was thrust into the back of a hovercraft. Phila opened her eyes. Ella and Sahara were still slumped over.


    ¡°Should I tell them about Father?¡± Phila debated with herself.


    ¡°When the time is right,¡± she finally agreed on.

 Welcome to Madame Myalo鈥檚 School for Empowered Individuals

    ¡°Welcome to Madame Myalo¡¯s School for Empowered Individuals,¡± said a cheery static haired girl. Ella and Sahara groaned as they got out of the hovercraft and shook their heads.


    ¡°I¡¯m so happy there¡¯s three of you, because rooming is in bunks of four. I accidentally, um, fried my roommates when I was in the shower, so I¡¯m excited I get new ones!¡± said the girl as another impulse charged through her platinum blonde hair. ¡°Oh I¡¯m Dianli by the way, Dian for short.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re like a bomb waiting to go off,¡± commented Phila sarcastically. If Dian heard the comment, she ignored it.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to wear that silly jacket here,¡± said Dian ripping Ella¡¯s jacket off and throwing it off the edge. It was then, that the girls noticed they were on a floating island.


    ¡°My jacket!¡± said Ella as the wind blew it out of sight. Dian stroked Ella¡¯s wings.


    ¡°Wow, they¡¯re beautiful!¡± said Dian. ¡°Well, what are we waiting for? I¡¯ll have your bags moved as I give you the tour.¡± As Dian turned around, Sahara whispered ¡°crazy¡± to the rest of them.


    ¡°Here¡¯s the lunchroom. Most people eat together with their powers so they don¡¯t frighten anyone, like the ice divas over there,¡± Dian pointed to six girls doing each other¡¯s hair. ¡°They¡¯re the popular table, so don¡¯t bother them.¡±


    ¡°Challenge accepted,¡± said Phila as she changed her appearance so she had long black hair and pale skin like most of the ice girls.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m serious! They¡¯re literally ice cold divas!¡± said Dian trying to stop Phila from going over there.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Phila,¡± said Phila to the Ice Divas. One of them rolled her eyes and flipped her long feathery hair.


    ¡°That¡¯s Frida, their leader,¡± whispered Dian to Phila. ¡°She was my old roommate.¡±


    ¡°Look who decided to come crawling back to us,¡± said Zura, another one of the divas with a long jet black braid, circling Dian. Dian¡¯s facial expression changed.


    ¡°Look I¡¯m sorry about that incident-¡± started Dian before she was cut off by Frida.


    ¡°Go, you freak. Go back to your own kind,¡± said Frida dismissing Dian. Phila turned to look at Frida.


    ¡°What did she do that was so bad?¡± Phila asked Frida. Frida took her elegantly laced gloves off to reveal spiraling burn marks.


    ¡°She¡¯s uncontrollable,¡± growled Frida slipping the gloves back on. Phila looked at Dian worriedly.


    ¡°Come on Phila, we best be going,¡± said Dian trying to slip away.


    ¡°Why let her drag you into her pit? Join us,¡± said Frida. Phila supposed her disguise worked well enough.


    ¡°Don¡¯t, Phila,¡± said Dian. Rece, another diva, turned around and shot Dian with ice.


    ¡°We said we don¡¯t want you,¡± said Rece flipping her curly black hair. Phila looked at the Ice Divas, at Dian in the ice, and then back at her sisters.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to consider,¡± said Phila softly as she went back to meet her sisters.


    ¡°You¡¯re not actually going to accept, are you?¡± asked Sahara. Phila laughed once they were out of sight.


    ¡°Trust me, they won¡¯t even remember me. I¡¯ll probably look different tomorrow,¡± said Phila laughing.


    ¡°Oh no, we forgot Dian!¡± cried out Ella as they turned the corner. Sahara and Phila shrugged.


    ¡°We have to get her back, come on!¡± said Ella turning around and going back to the lunchroom. ¡°I still don¡¯t know where everything is and I need a guide!¡± Sahara and Phila reluctantly followed.


    Inside the cafeteria the Ice Divas were taking care of Dian. The one with a black bob was adding more coats to Dian¡¯s prison.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°What should we do?¡± asked Sahara. ¡°We¡¯re no match for the six of them.¡±


    ¡°Politely ask for Dian back?¡± asked Phila half jokingly. ¡°They don¡¯t like her so they may giver her back.¡±


    ¡°Ok here¡¯s the plan. I shoot a force field at them to push them all away and Ella you go in there with your superspeed and grab Dian,¡± said Sahara.


    ¡°And what do I do?¡± asked Phila.


    ¡°Oh, you have the easy part. Just create a scene so we don¡¯t get caught by anyone else looking to help the divas,¡± said Sahara. Phila pouted.


    ¡°Why do I always get stuck with the stupid job?¡± she grumbled as she walked into the lunchroom.


    ¡°What to do, what to do¡­¡± murmured Phila to herself as she spotted a bowl of pudding sitting on the table. Without much thought, she made herself look like a typical teenager and thrust the bowl onto Frida. Frida turned around and stared at Phila.


    ¡°Why did you-¡± Frida was shot backwards by Sahara¡¯s purple force-field and crashed into the wall with her other divas. Ella rushed in and grabbed frozen Dian and then bolted. Sahara vanished, which was cue for Phila to blend in. She rushed out of the cafeteria going transparent-ish which caused confusion for people in crowds.


    ¡°Okay, we have Dian but she¡¯s still frozen!¡± said Sahara panicking. Phila peered into the cafeteria to watch as the divas recollected themselves.


    ¡°We have to hurry,¡± said Phila nervously. She started rubbing her hands on Dian¡¯s frozen face.


    ¡°That¡¯s not awkward at all,¡± muttered Sahara as Phila grew extra arms to help thaw Dian faster. Suddenly, Ella started sprinting around her. Dian¡¯s ice began to melt. Dian collapsed to the floor.


    ¡°They¡¯ve never frozen me for that long!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°They¡¯re bound to get in trouble.¡±


    ¡°You mean they¡¯ve frozen you before?¡± asked Ella, puzzled.


    ¡°Yeah, I was roommates with Frida, Aisa and Esma. Well, those were my second set of roommates, you see I used to be with the other charged people but then I accidentally shorted them out, so I got transferred,¡± rambled Dian. ¡°By the way, what are your powers?¡±


    ¡°I have invisibility and force fields, the freak growing a third eye is a shifter, and Ella has wings and speed,¡± said Sahara.


    ¡°We only have two other winged students, and they¡¯re dating. I think we may have another invisible student, but certainly not one with force fields. He¡¯s in another age group though. And Phila, you¡¯re all alone. Typically your type is long-lived so there''s no need for you guys to have many,¡± said Dian. ¡°And there¡¯s plenty of charged kids. You guys have rare powers!¡±


    ¡°Wait, you said there''s another invisible student. Why doesn¡¯t he have force fields, don¡¯t force fields come with invisibility?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°Not necessarily; force fields are common among most power groups, it happens when your parents are two different powers. You get one, and force field, but not the other,¡± explained Dian. ¡°But you¡¯ll learn all about that in class, let me finish my tour.¡± Dian showed them where they would have their lessons, and where the bathrooms were located.


    ¡°This is our dorm room,¡± said Dian leading them into a room. The walls were glittery pink and had fluffy purple boa¡¯s around the beds. There were tons of unicorn posters, and even more stuffed unicorns scattered throughout the room. Even the bed spread and bed sheets were unicorn patterned.


    ¡°Um,¡± said Phila.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I really love unicorns,¡± said Dian uncomfortably. ¡°One of you can sleep on the bunk above me, and the other two can get the bunks to the left.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the bunk above Dian,¡± volunteered Ella as she flew up to the top bunk. Sahara picked up a unicorn snowglobe.


    ¡°So, I notice you¡¯re not wearing any unicorn apparel, is there a dress code?¡± asked Sahara looking at Dian¡¯s yellow tank top and khaki pants.


    ¡°Sort of,¡± started Dian. ¡°People typically wear their color assigned to them based on their power so you can tell them apart. But the only thing that¡¯s mandatory is the bracelet they give you which numbs your power so you can¡¯t kill anyone.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so they had to install the bracelets for a purpose, so that means people have gotten killed here before?¡± asked Phila astonished.


    ¡°Oh yeah, 25% of the school dies or gets put in a serious medical condition each year,¡± said Dian. ¡°The bracelets only work 75% of the time.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why the divas couldn¡¯t hurt you that much,¡± said Ella putting it all together. ¡°Their bracelets were stealing their power.¡±


    ¡°Why were you guys sent here anyways?¡± asked Dian.


    ¡°We,¡± started Sahara looking puzzled. ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure.¡±


    ¡°We were sent here because we caused a scene in public,¡± filled in Phila.


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± said Ella, trying to remember. ¡°You used me like a hang glider.¡±


    ¡°You guys aren¡¯t that bad. I was sent here because in kindergarten a girl was making fun of me because I couldn¡¯t swim and wouldn¡¯t go in the water. Another one pushed me into the pool and I accidentally electrocuted all of them. Only three died,¡± said Dian as if it was nothing. ¡°This is practically my home.¡±


    ¡°Ok so when do we start?¡± asked Ella.


    ¡°Tomorrow. Today was a suspended schedule because a teacher accidentally set a kid on fire. But don¡¯t worry, if you get on the teachers¡¯ good sides nothing will happen to you,¡± said Dian. Sahara and Phila exchanged horrified looks.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go get your bracelets,¡± said Dian. ¡°I want to introduce you to an old friend on the way.¡±

 Oma

    ¡°Meet Oma,¡± said Dian, leading them to get their bracelets. Oma had long cascading red hair that covered most of her face. She looked shyly away from them.


    ¡°Oma has fire powers. She¡¯s not exactly... fire-resistant like the rest of the fire people. She¡¯s really shy at first, but once you get to know her she¡¯s really nice,¡± said Dian. Oma looked at them for a moment before going into the back room to get their bracelets.


    ¡°Why is she working this?¡± asked Phila.


    ¡°Oh, she doesn¡¯t like to talk about it, so I¡¯ll tell you. She accidentally set the old library on fire a while back so this is her sort of penance,¡± said Dian.


    ¡°How long ago?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°I¡¯d say about 9 years ago. Why?¡± asked Dian. Oma came back with their bracelets. Ella immediately felt weighed down by hers.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°I can¡¯t fly!¡± she complained as the bracelet locked around her wrist. She twisted and pulled at it but the bracelet wouldn¡¯t come off. Sahara snapped her bracelet on. She vanished and then reappeared.


    ¡°My powers still work,¡± she told them. For Phila, she still had her powers also.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t Ella fly anymore?¡± Phila asked Dian.


    ¡°The bracelets are specifically designed for your powers, and since we had a bunch of flying students try to escape the campus a while back, the flying kids are watched extra hard,¡± said Dian. ¡°Sorry. But Oma can fix that up for you.¡±


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t your bracelet numb your electricity?¡± asked Ella.


    ¡°It does, but I have abnormal charge readings,¡± said Dian.


    ¡°Phila, leave your bracelet alone,¡± said Oma looking over at Phila, who was changing her wrist sizes to she could slip out of the bracelet. Unfortunately, the bracelet changed sizes too.


    ¡°Remember that your bracelet is designed for your power, and your power alone,¡± warned Dian. ¡°And if you keep trying to break out of it you could possibly sound an alarm¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s possible to break the bracelet?¡± asked Phila. Oma shot her a warning glance.


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± was all she said before she disappeared into the depths of the library.

 New Friends

    ¡°Wakey wakey! It¡¯s your first real day here!¡± yelled Dian as the others woke up. She handed Ella a light blue leather jacket.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about the loss of your other jacket, so I had this one made for you. And in light blue too!¡± Dian said excitedly. Ella handed the jacket back to her.


    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± she said sleepily. Ella looked at the clock. It was five in the morning.


    ¡°Why are we awake this early?¡± she asked Dian.


    ¡°I wanted to make sure you guys were ready,¡± said Dian, pouting. ¡°I know you don¡¯t like being up this early, but I couldn¡¯t sleep listening to Sahara snore.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t snore,¡± said Sahara, now questioning herself if she snored or not.


    ¡°Okay but anyways I got your schedules from Oma. It seems like you guys have all the same classes, and they¡¯re all with me! Cool, now I can introduce you to all my friends!¡±


    ¡°You have friends?¡± Phila asked, surprised. Sahara whacked her shoulder. ¡°Ow!¡±


    ¡°So we have Orientation first, where you learn everything about why certain people get certain powers,¡± Dian explained. ¡°Oh yay Oma¡¯s in our potions class!¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we be in an easier level class if we just transferred here, though?¡± Ella asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the best student, and as my punishment for killing, I mean electrocuting so many students I need to be placed in the easy classes because I¡¯m not really sure how to control my power yet,¡± said Dian as if it was nothing.


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Sahara said as the three slowly backed away.


    ¡°Come on, it¡¯s only at people I don¡¯t like. And I like you guys,¡± Dian smiled. ¡°Come on. Class is this way.¡± Together, the four of them walked down the hall to a room. They entered to find a giant TV, ping pong and pool tables, a massive fridge, and a huge leather couch.


    ¡°This is the classroom?¡± Phila asked incredulously.


    ¡°No, silly! It¡¯s 5 a.m. We can have fun in the lounge first!¡± Dian grinned. She turned on the TV to show a video involving something about stages of rage, and laughed hysterically at it.


    ¡°One thing about training, is that everyone has it different,¡± said Dian. ¡°But you guys have training at the same time as me, so that shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Your sure that we will fit in?¡± asked Phila looking into the mirror fretting over her appearance. ¡°Cmon guys, help me pick a look.¡±


    ¡°Hm, just do whatever,¡± said Dian. ¡°Oo can you do me?¡± Phila changed into Dian.


    ¡°How do I look?¡± she asked her. Dian smiled.


    ¡°I could get used to this,¡± said Dian as Phila changed into her stereotypical teenager appearance.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m getting used to my bracelet,¡± said Ella. She jumped into the air and flapped her wings. ¡°I can stay up for a whole minute.¡± Dian looked away.


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± said Sahara, ecstatic. A few more people came into the lounge


    ¡°Amethyst!¡± Dian said rushing over to the blue-haired girl. ¡°We have new friends!¡± The girl, Amethyst, turned around and looked at them with her sea foam eyes.


    ¡°Is your hair really blue?¡± asked Phila. ¡°Like naturally?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t born like this, of course, but exposure to Co,¡± She paused. ¡°Oh, Cobalt, for those confused, does that.¡± said Amethyst. ¡°Oh, I never really introduced myself. I''m Amethyst. Like, the stone, you know? SiO2, if you prefer.¡±


    ¡°You seem pretty normal,¡± said Sahara. ¡°What did you do to come here?¡±


    "I showed up pretty early... I was only 9. Not a lot of people were here then, so I know all and see all, if that is an asset you need. My parents were alchemists, at the brink of discovering the philosopher''s stone. Ironically, just as they found the secret to immortality, an explosion went off in their lab-- something to do with wiring. I was at school, but Crestfall''s justice system, as you know, is heavily flawed. I was blamed for the explosion and jailed. It was then when I realized my power-- I melted the entire prison out of anger and ran. A fellow prisoner told me there were others like me, so I came here. I didn''t want to be alone... I''m an atom, really, and I need to be in some molecule or family, always,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°So, I guess you could say I''m the only one who came here willingly. That''s also why my bracelet..." Dian shot a little spark at Amethyst.


    ¡°...Nevermind. So, you can fly?" Amethyst asked Ella. Ella fluttered her wings.


    ¡°Usually, my bracelet prohibits it. But I think it¡¯s getting better,¡± said Ella, stroking her wings. Amethyst and Dian exchanged a look and then beckoned for them to sit down at a table.


    ¡°I¡¯m can turn invisible,¡± said Sahara.


    ¡°Cool,¡± said Amethyst half heartedly. ¡° Typical Female. Not really a power, really, with Quantum mechanics, it can be created artificially.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± asked Sahara. ¡°I thought my power was rare.¡±


    ¡°Not exactly. All powers have about the same amount of members. But only the ones who can¡¯t control their power get sent to the school. Invisibility isn¡¯t that hard to control,¡± said Amethyst matter-of-factly.


    ¡°It is, too! Do you know how hard it is to stay visible when you¡¯re embarrassed?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°Yeah, but you can¡¯t hurt anyone. That¡¯s the thing. None of you can really hurt anyone with your uncontrollable powers. I mean, Dian practically killed 10 people because she can¡¯t control hers, and I melted a couple of government buildings,¡± said Amethyst.


    ¡°Amethyst, can I talk to you in the other room?¡± said Dian, leading Amethyst away. She whispered a couple words to her, and Amethyst came back.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we must have gotten off on the wrong note. I really dislike negative bonds, truly,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve been here for so long my opinions have become radioactive. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Apology accepted,¡± stated Sahara. ¡°Just don¡¯t say invisibility isn¡¯t hard to control, or I¡¯ll smack you with a force field.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Amethyst smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If you want, I can help you control it-- I have a few sources who would be willing to help.¡±


    ¡°Hey Amethyst, did you scare them off yet?¡± said a girl with dark brown hair, coming over to meet them.


    ¡°That¡¯s Amethyst¡¯s friend Garnet, she¡¯s a healer,¡± said Dian.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just say ¡®our friend¡¯, Dian?¡± asked Ella. "It seems like a weird way of wording it."


    "Garnet doesn''t necessarily like me," said Dian. "I only have two friends, and now you guys."


    "Hi I''m Garnet," said Garnet. "I know it seems peculiar that both Amethyst and I are named after stones but bear with me."


    "Sounds good to me," said Phila, her hair becoming a dark purple.


    "Whoa! How''d you do that?" asked Garnet.


    "Our immature sister is a shifter," said Sahara as Phila changed into an exact copy of Garnet. Garnet spoke.


    Dian shrugged. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know? She introduced us, I guess¡­¡±


    Garnet nodded. ¡°True. Anyway, Amethyst said that you guys are new. Welcome to Madame Myalo¡¯s! Flight, invisibility and force fields, and shape shifting? Not bad. I have a feeling I¡¯ll be seeing you a lot, your type seems to get into a bit of trouble.¡± She laughed. ¡°Not that it¡¯s a bad thing, that¡¯s experience for me. I get that terrible bracelet off, too, which is a plus.¡±


    Sahara paled. ¡°Is your power torture or something? Are you going to punish us?¡±


    Amethyst broke out into loud laughter while Garnet giggled politely. Phila noticed a pendant around Amethyst¡¯s neck with a purple stone that glittered unnaturally, like there was something inside. It matched her floor-length ball gown, which for some reason didn¡¯t seem unusual here.


    Garnet interrupted her thoughts. ¡°No, Sahara. I heal. I also cannot kill, but really, I think saving lives is a much more justifiable cause. Right, Amethyst?¡± She looked at the girl pointedly.


    ¡°Oh, fine, I guess. But you all do need to be able to fully control your powers, it¡¯ll only help.¡±


    Dian nodded. ¡°I got it after four years, and it feels great! I no longer, umm, force my roommates to visit Garnet!¡±


    Garnet sighed. ¡°Yes, please refrain from doing that.¡±


    Ella, who¡¯d been quiet this whole time, said, ¡°Do you know our names? I don¡¯t like being classified by power¡­ I¡¯m Ella.¡±


    Amethyst pointed at her bracelet. ¡°It notifies us when we meet someone new. You may have heard beeps when you saw us?¡±


    Sahara nodded. ¡°Oh, yeah! I was wondering what those were.¡±


    Amethyst smiled. ¡°Simple wireless connection. The beeps are a way to tell the user that data is being transferred from one hard drive to another, all while we¡­¡± She noticed everyone was looking away. ¡°Anyway, it tells us a lot about you. Like how Ella wants her hair was a tad lighter and with a highlight, yet doesn¡¯t know I have the perfect compound to dye it that exact color.¡±


    Ella stared at her bracelet and tapped it a few times. ¡°Um¡­. let me try. You¡­¡± She squinted. ¡°Got your powers through radioactivity?¡±


    Amethyst nodded. ¡°Exposure, like the hair.¡±


    Sahara squinted too. ¡°Let me try! Garnet¡­ you got here only last year!¡±


    Garnet nodded. ¡°And your memory has been erased a few times.¡±


    Sahara gasped. ¡°It has? Well I wouldn¡¯t know, would I?¡±


    Ella stared at Dian. ¡°Your birthday is in a month, and you want a new scarf with a pegasus on it¡­¡± She frowned. ¡°You¡¯re thinking of changing your room¡¯s theme to that?¡±


    Dian laughed. ¡°Guilty. You don¡¯t have a textbook for Potions.¡±


    Ella frowned. ¡°Oh, shoot, do I need one?¡±


    Garnet nodded. ¡°Yeah, but they have spares. After your assessment you can focus on more interesting topics. Like magical healing plants!¡±


    Phila sighed. ¡°Is that class required?¡±


    Dian grinned. ¡°No. We get electives that match our powers starting next year. Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t have to endure that.¡±


    Garnet broke in. ¡°It is an amazing class! So many amazing plants¡­¡±


    ¡°Personally, plants aren¡¯t my thing. I tend to vaporize them,¡± sighed Amethyst. ¡±But I get where you¡¯re coming from. Potions , that¡¯ll be great.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯d be best at something else,¡± said Ella. ¡°Do they offer anything like PE here?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what power training is for. You guys have that class with Dian, but will be broken up into groups: Passive, Agility, Defense, Psychic, Stealth, and Offense,¡± said Garnet. ¡°I¡¯m in Passive, and Dian and Amethyst are in Offense. Phila, you would be in stealth, and Sahara would probably be in either Stealth or Defense, depending on the activity.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m guessing I¡¯m in Agility?¡± asked Ella.


    ¡°Most likely. You have speed and flying,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°And don¡¯t worry, the bracelets don¡¯t work in the training room.¡±


    ¡°Why do I even have a bracelet? Mine does nothing,¡± said Phila.


    ¡°Well, it prohibits you from leaving campus, tracks your motions, and provides information for who you are. But for the rest of us, it traps us,¡± said Dian, not looking at Amethyst.


    ¡°Ok, so after Orientation, we have Power Training, then we have Potions,¡± said Sahara looking at her schedule.


    ¡°Wait, you have Power Training second?¡± Garnet looked at Amethyst with a concerned expression. ¡°Looks like they¡¯ll meet the Divas.¡±


    ¡°We already did,¡± said Phila. ¡°They wanted me to join them, but that was before I poured pudding on Frida¡¯s head.¡±


    ¡°Well, looks like your next four years here are going to be at the bottom of the popularity pyramid,¡± joked Garnet.


    ¡°Oh come on, they¡¯re not that bad,¡± said Amethyst.


    ¡°Well looks like someone has never been abused by them,¡± Garnet tilted her head towards Dian. ¡°Trust me, I¡¯ve tended to Dian¡¯s frequent frostbite.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been here for long enough for them to know to leave me alone. And let¡¯s just call their monthly hair color change a¡­ mutual agreement. I¡¯m glad they don¡¯t ask about the ingredients, they¡¯re glad their hair is,¡± Amethyst changed her voice¡¯s pitch. ¡°¡®Fabulously cool¡¯, as they say.¡±


    ¡°Looks like someone wants to be a diva,¡± joked Ella.


    Amethyst winked. ¡°I like my resources, but I would never give up my molecule of lovable misfits such as yourselves. Speaking of, Sahara, should I talk to my fellow halogen about your training?¡±


    ¡°You should probably see what game we¡¯re playing today,¡± said Garnet. ¡°She could either be defensive with force fields or stealth with invisibility.¡±


    ¡°Either way, lack of full control is¡­ not complementary. Remember Xavier?¡±


    Ella shrieked. ¡°Wait, there are boys here?¡±


    ¡°Duh, but we have separated dorms. They live on the other side of the building. And sometimes separate classes. But same lunch times,¡± said Dian.


    Garnet blushed. ¡°But dating, on the other hand, is not forbidden. Like the two other winged kids. They¡¯re dating, so don¡¯t get your hopes up for a boy with wings Ella.¡±


    Dian looked hopefully at the door. ¡°Maybe one day he¡¯ll notice me¡­¡±


    Ella nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I only fall for every third guy I see, and I¡¯ve made a few exceptions to fourth!¡±


    ¡°Let me guess. The Divas all have hot boyfriends that we will all be jealous of?¡± grumbled Phila.


    ¡°How¡¯d you guess! They¡¯re all dating fire dudes,¡± said Dian. Phila sighed. She didn¡¯t mean that kind of hot.


    ¡°Ironic.¡± Amethyst nodded.


    ¡°Won¡¯t they melt their girlfriends?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°Oh, it happens quite often. I have to treat their burns, and believe me, their skin is ice cold. Not to mention it, fire people are said to have really warm personalities and spicy breath. But how would I know, I¡¯ve only dated two,¡± said Garnet.


    Ella swooned. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to meet someone¡­ And date him¡­ and marry him¡­ and have his babies¡­¡±


    Sahara hit her shoulder. ¡°I bet all the guys here are douchey.¡±


    Garnet smiled. ¡°Actually, they¡¯re not. Like this one laser-eyed guy¡­¡±


    ¡°How many boyfriends have you had, Garnet?¡± asked Phila.


    ¡°Only 4, two fire guys, a water guy, a wall climber, and I have my eye on someone else,¡± said Garnet, blushing.


    ¡°Hey, I know you all think you¡¯re noble gases, but that won¡¯t excuse you missing class. C¡¯mon, Garnet, Phila, you¡¯re in my orientation group. The rest of you follow Dian. Be active, come on.¡±


    Phila whispered to Garnet. ¡°I¡¯m betting she¡¯s amazing at potions?¡±


    Garnet laughed. ¡°You have no idea.¡±

 Orientation? Whats That?

    ¡°So what basically is orientation?¡± asked Phila. ¡°Are we just going to go over school rules or something?¡±


    ¡°Nah, its different, you¡¯ll see,¡± said Garnet.


    ¡°Why do you guys have to go to orientation, if you¡¯ve been here for so long?¡± asked Phila.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to make sure you don¡¯t get lost, and also because there are some new¡­ precautions this year.¡± Amethyst opened a heavy oak door into a giant theater.


    ¡°That¡¯s Madame Myalo,¡± said Garnet pointing to an old woman with her gray hair tied into a tight bun. ¡°Don¡¯t ever think bad things about her. Ever. She can read minds.¡± Madame Myalo tapped the microphone a few times.


    ¡°I can tell that you all are anxious to get this done with,¡± started Madame Myalo. ¡°But welcome to Madame Myalo¡¯s School for Empowered Individuals. Now, we have a few ground rules. There will be no deliberate harming of other students, and no trying to escape.¡± Madame Myalo rambled on for a few more minutes before excusing the students to go to their first class.


    Garnet led Phila and Amethyst out of the auditorium and into a long hallway. "Although we know your powers, every student''s abilities are tested."


    Amethyst grinned. "This is my favorite part!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not mine, that¡¯s for sure. All this violence and not an ounce of healing to do¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Phila crossed her arms. ¡°Will I get hurt?¡±


    Amethyst laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You¡¯ll be protected by super-advanced nanotechnology. This is the only time we can say 100% of test subjects- Oh sorry, I mean students, survive.¡±


    Garnet pouted, ¡°Yes, and completely uninjured.¡±


    ¡°But they let you practice in the training room. You have until the end of the month before your test,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°That way you will know the full capabilities of your power.¡±


    They continued walking down the hallway until the wall color faded to white and it ended. Amethyst opened a door, leading to another hallway of the same white color.


    ¡°This is where we leave you, Phila,¡± said Garnet. ¡°The training room is just down the hallway. Good luck!¡± Phila walked down to the end of the hallway, where she met up with the others in front of an airlock.


    ¡°You ready for the games?¡± asked Dian, handing Phila a jumpsuit. Phila dropped it and morphed one around herself. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Games?¡± she asked as Dian handed the jumpsuit back to Phila.


    ¡°You have to wear it, it¡¯s the only way you won¡¯t get killed in there,¡± said Dian. ¡°We¡¯re either doing Hunger Games or Capture the Flag.¡±


    ¡°Wait what?¡± asked Phila


    ¡°If you get ¡®killed¡¯, it stimulates your death and sends you out of the games. But you won¡¯t actually get hurt,¡± said Dian. Phila still looked confused as she put the jumpsuit on awkwardly. As soon as she zipped it up, Dian shot her with a bolt of electricity from her hands.


    Phila felt a roaring pain sear through her body as she was thrust to the floor. A static charge rushed through her. Dian pressed a button on her jumpsuit and Phila got up.


    ¡°You almost killed me!¡± yelled Phila to Dian. Dian shrugged.


    ¡°You¡¯re not hurt, are you? A bolt of lightning that strong is aught to kill anyone. It¡¯s the suit, Phila, the suit,¡± said Dian brushing her hands together. She picked up the brochure on the side of the airlock door.


    ¡°Hunger Games,¡± said Dian. ¡°We need groups of five, and we only have four!¡± From outside the airlock, Sahara heard people arguing.


    ¡°We already have 5 people. You would make us six, Nadia. Now we want our dream ice team so you have to go pick another group,¡± said Frida. She was surrounded by 4 of her ice divas while yelling at a girl with ombre blue hair.


    ¡°I was out last time, Frida. Its someone else¡¯s turn,¡± said the girl, Nadia. Frida gave her a cruel smile.


    ¡°We¡¯ve decided to make some¡­ revisions to our team,¡± said Rece, looking at the rest of the Ice Diva¡¯s. ¡°We¡¯re no longer accepting warmer members.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± questioned Nadia. ¡°I¡¯m just a bit warmer than you, that¡¯s all. No biggie.¡±


    ¡°It makes all the difference,¡± said Esma. ¡°We don¡¯t like people warmer than us. Except our boyfriends, but they aren¡¯t warm, they¡¯re hot.¡±


    ¡°Same thing,¡± said Nadia.


    ¡°No,¡± said Zura. ¡°Obviously you can¡¯t comprehend how we¡¯re sugarcoating it. Basically, we don¡¯t like your type, you¡¯re too warm for us. So get lost.¡±


    ¡°You water people are¡­ nonuniform and unshapely,¡± added Esma. ¡°Go back to the water where you came from.¡± Nadia stared in shock at the Ice Divas.


    ¡°We¡¯re waiting,¡± said Frida, tapping her foot impatiently.


    ¡°You disgust me¡± said Nadia. She stormed off, upset.


    ¡°Hey, we only have 4 people, want to join us?¡± asked Ella. Nadia turned around.


    ¡°I guess I have to,¡± she grumbled. ¡°I¡¯m Nadia, by the way. Water powers if you haven¡¯t guessed.¡±


    "No, I haven¡¯t,¡± said Sahara.


    ¡°Ok, are we balanced?¡± asked Nadia.


    ¡°Sort of,¡± replied Dian. ¡°We have 2 offense, one agility, a stealth, and a stealth-defense.¡±


    ¡°Agility can fly?¡± asked Nadia.


    ¡°My name is Ella, and yes I can fly. I have super speed too,¡± said Ella impatiently.


    ¡°Sorry. Ella,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Ok, perfect.¡±


    ¡°We have a shifter and a invisibility/force fields,¡± said Dian.


    ¡°Okay. I have a plan. How about we make a base up in one of the trees? And then we can guard it,¡± said Nadia. ¡°We can play defensive this round.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± said Dian. A countdown timer appeared in front of them putting twenty seconds on the clock before the airlock opened.


    ¡°Okay everyone, follow me!¡± yelled Nadia as the airlock opened.

 Hunger Games

    Sahara followed Nadia as Nadia propelled a jet of water in front of her to knock anyone that might be ambushing them. So far, none of the other teams were seen. Sahara spotted a tree with a rope ladder hanging off of it. She grasped onto the bar and hoisted herself up to the tree, where a base was already made. After the last person had climbed up, Phila made her hand into a knife and sliced the ladder off the edge so no one else could get up.


    ¡°Wow Phila, I didn¡¯t know you could do that!¡± said Ella, astonished.


    ¡°Neither did I,¡± said Phila, looking at her hands. Normally, she only changed her appearance. But she had never really tried other shapes before.


    ¡°Okay anyways, there are three windows in the base. Dian and I will take two of them so we can shoot people. One of you can look out the third window and warn us if anyone is trying to attack from the rear,¡± said Nadia. Ella nodded as the went over to the third window.


    ¡°We have some takers!¡± yelled Dian as she blasted electricity out of the window. Ella rushed over to look.


    ¡°It¡¯s a diva!¡± she exclaimed.


    ¡°New plan. Ella, fly down there and retrieve the body. Phila, how good are your mimicry skills?¡± Dian asked Phila.


    ¡°They¡¯re ok, if you want me to change into her, I can,¡± said Phila acquiring a black braid and pale skin. Ella returned with the body.


    ¡°It¡¯s Zura,¡± said Ella placing unconscious Zura on the floor of the base.


    ¡°Okay Phila, go down now!¡± said Nadia as she pushed Phila out of the treehouse. Phila hit the ground with a thud. She looked around and saw Frida burst out of the trees.


    ¡°Zura! There you are! I heard a bolt of lightning and I thought you got ¡®killed¡¯,¡± said Frida. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there, let¡¯s take the base.¡± Phila hesitantly followed as they circled the base.


    Meanwhile in the tree, the four others were plotting.Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure from this high which one Phila is,¡± said Sahara. ¡°What if we kill her?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she won¡¯t actually die,¡± said Dian.


    ¡°No that¡¯s not what I meant,¡± started Sahara. ¡°Nevermind.¡± Nadia blasted water out of the tree house.


    ¡°Quick Dian, shock the water,¡± yelled out Sahara. Dian zapped the water that was spilling out of Nadia¡¯s hands. The back charge hit Nadia and sent her smashing against the back wall.


    ¡°She¡¯s out,¡± said Dian upset. She looked out the window. ¡°Good news and bad news. Good news is that we killed 4 of them. Bad news is that Frida is the only one alive which means we killed Phila.¡±


    ¡°What are you waiting for, electrocute her!¡± yelled Ella.


    ¡°I can¡¯t, I shorted out! It was the water! I need to wait another ten minutes before I get my chargeback,¡± said Dian. Ella gave up.


    ¡°I¡¯m not letting her get away,¡± she yelled to Dian as she swooped down out of the tree house. She overshadowed Frida, who looked above her and formed an ice sword in her hand.


    ¡°Fight me on the ground,¡± she taunted to Ella, who continued to circle overhead.


    ¡°Okay, so you want to die painfully,¡± said Frida as she shot an icicle right into Ella¡¯s heart. Ella crashed onto the ground, blood spilling everywhere.


    ¡°See you in half an hour,¡± said Frida as she clamped her foot down on Ella¡¯s head.


    ¡°How many competitors are left?¡± Sahara asked Dian who was sitting in the corner of the treehouse rocking back and forth. Dian looked out the window and peered at the blackboard.


    ¡°7,¡± said Dian. ¡°So you, me, Frida, and four others.¡± Sahara looked out the window.


    ¡°Three others,¡± said Sahara smugly. ¡°What do we even get if we win?¡±


    ¡°If our team wins we get to be first in the lunch line,¡± said Dian. ¡°And trust me, you want to be first.¡± Suddenly the treehouse was struck by a fiery comet. The whole tree was ablaze.


    ¡°Jump!¡± yelled Sahara as she pulled Dian out the window of the treehouse. The fiery tree came crashing down behind them. With all her might, Sahara shot a force field so powerful it knocked the fire guy into the arena wall and squashed him.


    ¡°You, me, and Frida,¡± said Sahara looking up at the board. ¡°The others must have taken care of each other.¡± Sahara waited for a response from Dian before turning around to see an icicle sticking out of her chest. Sahara vanished just in time as Frida was aiming her icicle.


    ¡°Silly girl,¡± said Frida. ¡°You don¡¯t know your weaknesses yet.¡± Frida took a deep breath and blew out a bunch of icy wind. Sahara watched in horror as her figure was faintly outlined by frost.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± were Sahara¡¯s last words before an icicle pierced her heart.

 Planning

    ¡°Talk about heartburn!¡± cried out Ella back in the airlock. Sahara and Dian nodded.


    ¡°Are you kidding me? Getting electrocuted is way worse,¡± said Phila. ¡°And whose dumb idea was it to have me go and pose as a diva?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure all of our injuries are equal, but I have to put something out here,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Before the week ends, I want our team to be able to beat the divas.¡±


    ¡°Okay, oh wise one, tell us your plan,¡± said Phila, growing a pad of paper and pencil out of her hands. ¡°Tell me, I want to take notes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s even creepier than before,¡± said Sahara, giving Phila a playful shove. Phila jutted spikes out of her skin.


    ¡°Pretty cool, right? If I can think it, I can do it,¡± she said, bragging.


    ¡°Ok can you do hybrids? Do me with Sahara¡¯s hair and Nadia¡¯s eyes, and then make both your hands machine guns,¡± said Ella.


    ¡°I can¡¯t fire them though,¡± said Phila, complying to the request. ¡°I can¡¯t split myself!¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°That would be funny, though. Would you split into two Phila¡¯s? Could we clone you that way?¡± joked Dian, but she clenched her jaw when she laughed because the pain in her heart hurt so much.


    ¡°The problem with the suits is they let you feel all the pain of being killed,¡± said Nadia, stretching her back. ¡°But you don¡¯t actually get hurt. I think that seems to make the pain last longer.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably why they give us an hour to recover after the games,¡± said Ella grumbling. ¡°I thought you said we would learn in this class.¡±


    ¡°Every other day is game day, tomorrow we have power practice,¡± said Dian. ¡°I think next game day is either capture the flag or turf wars.¡±


    ¡°Okay I worked out the entire plan in my head. In two days we have Capture the Flag. There are three teams for that instead of six, so two teams will combine into one,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Phila is out theif. She will sneak across the border and steal the flag. Now, the flags emit a strange light when taken so she will be caught immediately. This is where Ella, you and Sahara come in. Ella will hold onto Sahara as she swoops down to a designated location to pick up the flag. Sahara will grab onto the flag and have a force field stretched around her and Ella. Then, you guys will fly to our side protected. Dian and I will be on defense, protecting our flag so it doesn¡¯t get stolen. And Phila, I¡¯m sorry but you¡¯re definitely going to die this round.¡±


    ¡°If it means we get to eat first, and beat the divas, I¡¯m okay with it,¡± said Phila, her hair going yellow for excitement. ¡°And besides, I¡¯ll come back to life.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully,¡± muttered Dian before they were released for lunch.

 Nadia Was a Diva?

    ¡°How did training go?¡± asked Amethyst plopping down her lunch tray at the table.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask the ecstatic Ice Queen,¡± grumbled Phila as she slurped her soup. ¡°I got electrocuted by Dian.¡±


    ¡°These things happen, and it¡¯s only your first day!¡± said Garnet. Sahara came to the table walking with Nadia.


    ¡°Is there room here?¡± asked Sahara. Garnet scooched over. Nadia hesitantly sat down.


    ¡°Do you guys know Nadia?¡± Ella asked Amethyst and Garnet.


    ¡°Well,¡± said Amethyst looking at Nadia. ¡°It¡¯s complicated, but yes.¡±


    ¡°Allow me to explain. I used to be one of the ¡®Ice Divas¡¯ back when I had three as my roommates. Dian had half, and I had half. Anyways, before you guys showed up they used to allow non-ice members into their clique. But now they¡¯re being racist, because I¡¯m warmer than they are. So I¡¯m an ex-member,¡± said Nadia. ¡°And most people don¡¯t like me because I used to be part of the snobby group.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Ella watched as she spotted a pair of wings from across the lunchroom. The wings turned around to reveal they were attached to a boy, a cute boy with flippy black hair. Ella¡¯s heart throbbed as she watched him walk across the lunchroom towards her table. Her eyes were fixed on him. As he got closer and closer she finally stood up.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Ella, I¡¯m just like you!¡± she said putting her hand out for him to shake. He didn¡¯t take it.


    ¡°We were made for each other,¡± whispered Ella to the hot dude.


    ¡°Um, I have a girlfriend,¡± said the dude pointing to the only other winged person at the school sitting behind Ella. Ella¡¯s heart sunk. She remembered now Dian mentioning there were only two other winged people, and they were dating.


    ¡°Yeah, sorry, I¡¯m being awkward. My name¡¯s Hiro Tadashi by the way. I¡¯m going to go now,¡± said Hiro. Ella looked down at her food.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m meant to be forever alone,¡± said Ella, sadly. Phila morphed into the hot guy.


    ¡°Ella, I love you,¡± she said jokingly. Everyone at the table laughed.

 Potions Class

    ¡°Stop copying me, you¡¯re going to get it wrong. Do the beginner work,¡± said Amethyst, crafting an invisibility potion for herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m not copying you, I¡¯m modifying the potion. And besides, I¡¯m already invisible, why would I need the invisibility potion?¡± asked Sahara. They were at tables of four, with Amethyst, Sahara, Nadia and Ella at one table, and Phila, Garnet, Dian and Oma at the other. They had switched the tables around from what they normally were, Garnet, Dian, Oma and Amethyst at one table, so that they could have a chance to warm up to each other. Nadia had decided to join their little group after attempting to get a seat with Yekti, who rejected her.


    The seating change was sort of working, Oma became less shy around the newbies and actually engaged in conversations.


    ¡°Don¡¯t put that in there! Did you not learn solutes and solvents?¡± said Amethyst as Sahara dropped some red liquid into the potion, which splattered up on her.


    ¡°Gah, I look like I got into a bloody fight!¡± grumbled Sahara as she wiped the splatter off her face.


    ¡°Look at me. Did the potion work? It¡¯s a new mix that will last longer, so...¡± asked Amethyst. Sahara looked where Amethyst was sitting, and found Amethyst to be gone.


    ¡°It worked!¡± said Nadia. ¡°Good job, Amethyst!¡± Phila walked over and nodded her head. She picked up Sahara¡¯s potion.


    ¡°Potion of invisibility? Let me try!¡± said Phila as she drunk the potion.


    ¡°Phila, no!¡± yelled Sahara, slapping the vial out of Phila¡¯s hands, but it was too late. Phila fainted as she reverted into a dark green blob of liquid.


    ¡°Ewww,¡± said Garnet as she walked over. ¡°What is that? Should I have the janitor clean it up?¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s Phila,¡± said Sahara. ¡°Did the potion do that?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Shifters are viscous liquids. They revert when they¡¯re injured badly, or when they don¡¯t need to hold form. Like when they sleep.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. We should probably put her in a bucket,¡± said Garnet. ¡°She¡¯d kill us if anyone stepped on her.¡± Oma walked over with a glass vial. She scooped the goo into it.


    ¡°How long will she stay like this?¡± asked Oma, concerned. She traced one of the burns on her forehead, which she always did when she was nervous.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Garnet. ¡°I could try healing her.¡± Garnet stuck her hands in the goo. Nothing happened.


    ¡°I told you not to experiment!¡± said Amethyst. ¡°If she had bones, you would have killed her! Or, more accurately, she¡¯d have dissolved inside out! Without an immunity, this destroys calcium! Seriously?¡±


    ¡°And bones are made of calcium,¡± said Ella. ¡°But she obviously had some calcium in her body. Which is why she... reverted?¡± Ella poked her pencil into the goo.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll take her to the hospital wing while you guys finish potions,¡± said Garnet as she lifted up the vial. ¡°Phew, she¡¯s heavy.¡±


    Down at the hospital wing, Professor Kari, an elderly man who was head healer, was appalled by Phila¡¯s condition.


    ¡°She just, melted?¡± Professor Kali asked Garnet.


    ¡°After she drank the anti-calcium invisibility potion,¡± said Garnet. ¡°She kinda just ¡®blobbed¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know what to do about her. She may remain this pile of goo for the rest of her life,¡± said Professor Kali, looking sadly Phila.


    ¡°Did you hear that, Phila?¡± said Garnet, talking to the goo. ¡°You may be goo for the rest of your life. You¡¯ll never get to take the shape of anything else anymore.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what was Phila¡¯s power?¡± asked Professor Kali, suddenly looking alert.


    ¡°She was a shifter,¡± said Garnet.


    ¡°Oh, then it¡¯s no big deal. She¡¯ll remain dormant until tomorrow so she can heal. I thought she was an actual human. Now, that would have been a big deal,¡± said Professor Kali, happier. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go back to class? Oh, and can you ask Amethyst to stop by? Oma asked about some burn cream she may have some ideas for.¡±

 More About Shifters

    ¡°You mean I can take any form I want?¡± asked Phila, fully revived. Her hair was pink with curiosity. ¡°No matter the size?¡±


    ¡°There are size limitations,¡± said Professor Kali, taking a sip from his coffee. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t want to stretch yourself out too much.¡± It had been 3 hours since Phila was reverted; she had made a faster recovery than Professor Kali expected.


    ¡°Besides the side limitations, what¡¯s the catch?¡± said Phila. ¡°All powers have their weaknesses.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°The catch is anytime you get an injury that threatens your life, you revert into your original form, the green goop. You are really vulnerable during this time, which will allow your enemies to capture/kill you,¡± said Professor Kali.


    ¡°But why didn¡¯t I revert in the training room? I got killed twice!¡± exclaimed Phila.


    ¡°You¡¯re forgetting you weren¡¯t in any real danger. The suit just stimulated the pain, but you weren¡¯t in any actual pain,¡± said Professor Kali. ¡°Now why don¡¯t you meet up with your friends, they¡¯ve been worried sick about you. They came last hour to check up on you, and I expect they¡¯d be coming sometime around now.¡±


    ¡°You just want to get rid of me,¡± said Phila, joking as she left the hospital wing.

 Nadia Teaches Powers For Dummies

    ¡°Phila! There you are! We were just going to visit you!¡± said Ella, embracing her in a hug. Phila¡¯s hair turned red to stimulate a blush.


    ¡°Great news, apparently I can turn into anything!¡± said Phila as she crouched down onto the ground. The crowd watched in awe as she morphed into a small sparrow. Dian picked her up and put her on her shoulder.


    ¡°Now, fly over there,¡± said Dian, pointing to a ledge. Phila hopped down from Dian¡¯s shoulder and took her normal form.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to fly,¡± said Phila, her hair becoming a deeper shade of red. ¡°But I can learn!¡±


    ¡°Another thing you need to learn is not to drink suspicious potions,¡± said Amethyst, handing Phila a test tube with a green liquid. ¡°I made the antidote, but there was no way for you to consume it. Such a waste.¡±


    ¡°Guys, I need to go to the library. Bye,¡± said Oma, making eye contact with Garnet and Dian.


    ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t you guys catch up with us for dinner¡­ later?¡± said Amethyst, as her Garnet, and Dian followed Oma. ¡°We won¡¯t be long.¡±


    ¡°I wonder why they¡¯re going?¡± asked Sahara, confused. ¡°Should we follow them?¡±


    ¡°Who cares? Anyways, this will give us extra time to work on our training so we can beat Frida either in two days, or 4 days,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the training room.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those closed unless a teacher is there?¡± asked Ella.


    ¡°As a former Diva, I know where all the extra training rooms are,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Nadia led them down to the airlocks. After they passed the sixth one, Nadia opened a metal door.


    ¡°Due to the opening of a 2nd school in Europe, we don¡¯t have as many students as we used to. So we had no use for the extra airlocks. They converted them into private training rooms, but couldn¡¯t find the time to actually have a teacher to supervise them. The Divas used to use them for training, or a place to hang. But they only come here in the mornings,¡± said Nadia opening the door to airlock 7.


    Sahara couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. There were test dummies, targets, and ladder ropes all throughout the room. It was mostly an obstacle course, with a road of spikes, rock wall, and a couple mud pits scattered throughout the room. Nadia handed them jumpsuits.


    ¡°Suit up guys, I don¡¯t want anyone getting hurt on my watch, but if Garnet was supervising, maybe you could skip the suits,¡± said Nadia, her voice trailing off.


    ¡°If the suits make you invincible, then why doesn¡¯t every empowered individual wear one around the school, or even around the world?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°They only work in designated areas, such as the training rooms and the airlock. But if you cross a certain boundary, they¡¯re just regular jumpsuits,¡± said Nadia. ¡°But let¡¯s get training! Ella, see if you can hold Sahara and still fly.¡± Ella grabbed Sahara and flapped her wings. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°She¡¯s really heavy,¡± complained Ella as she dropped Sahara. Sahara blasted a force field out of her hands right before she hit the ground.


    ¡°Ella, you need to work on your upper arm strength,¡± said Sahara, teasing Ella.


    ¡°I was able to use you as a hang glider, why can¡¯t you lift Sahara?¡± asked Phila.


    ¡°Remember how that worked? We crashed, silly. I couldn¡¯t support you either,¡± complained Ella.


    ¡°Hmmm. Ella, you could be really powerful if you were able to carry foes away, or carry allies to safety,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Why don¡¯t you practice carrying around the dummies, which are only 40 pounds?¡± Ella swooped down and picked up a dummy, but soon dropped it.


    ¡°Keep practicing,¡± called out Nadia. She looked at Phila and Sahara.


    ¡°Just wondering, Phila, did you know you could revert?¡± asked Nadia.


    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s what I do at night when I don¡¯t feel like holding a form. Which is also why I always get the bottom bunk,¡± said Phila, her hair turning dark red with embarrassment.


    ¡°Ok, so have you ever tried to mimic any liquids?¡± asked Nadia.


    ¡°What good would that do me?¡± asked Phila.


    ¡°Just wondering. But can you do inanimate objects, like perhaps a sword?¡± asked Nadia.


    ¡°Never tried,¡± said Phila. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t you hurt me, using me like a sword?¡±


    ¡°What about a suitcase, or a peace offering,¡± said Nadia, grinning evilly.


    ¡°Oh, I see where we¡¯re going here,¡± said Phila. ¡°For any of the games, you want me to pose as an inanimate object, and then, when they least suspect it, assassinate them.¡±


    ¡°You hit the nail on the head,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Now practice your shapes. Sahara.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°Can you form an entire force field bubble around yourself? Like a hamster ball?¡± asked Nadia.


    ¡°I could try,¡± said Sahara, quickly becoming surrounded by a clear staticky purplish force field. It quickly disintegrated. ¡°Oh, I get it, you want me to be able to hold it, and run in it. That way I can knock people out of the way.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Now you guys get practicing while I make water sculptures.¡± Nadia had a tripod set up in the back and was making elegant sculptures in front of it.


    Ella started with little dummies weighing 10 pounds, but couldn''t carry any other dummies. Phila was morphing into objects but shuddering out of them after every few minutes. Sahara¡¯s bubbles were getting weaker as her energy drained.


    ¡°Stop, Nadia, we can¡¯t practice anymore. I¡¯m exhausted,¡± said Sahara as she collapsed onto the floor.


    ¡°Same,¡± said Ella dropping her dummy and returning to the ground.


    ¡°You guys are weak,¡± said Nadia, taking a snapshot of the last sculpture she made. ¡°But I suppose it¡¯s dinner time anyways.¡±


    Relieved, the four girls walked to the dining hall where Garnet, Oma, Amethyst and Dian were waiting at a table for them.


    ¡°They need more help than I thought,¡± said Nadia. Garnet looked over at the three weary girls and raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Well, you guys have been practicing for four hours now,¡± said Garnet looking at her watch. ¡°Being beginners, I¡¯m surprised they haven''t fainted yet.¡±


    ¡°Actually, Ella gave me two concussions from dropping stuff on my head,¡± said Phila. ¡°Can you maybe-¡± Garnet placed her hands on Phila¡¯s head.


    ¡°Ah, much better. Now my headaches are gone too!¡± said Phila, her hair turning a sea foam color for relaxation.


    As they ate, little did they know something terrible was happening in the school. They wouldn¡¯t hear about the disappearance until the next day.

 Something Strange Is Happening....

    ¡°So Aisa just disappeared?¡± asked Garnet. ¡°That¡¯s bizarre. The Divas never walk solo.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they found her bracelet in their dorm, broken,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°They still haven¡¯t found her yet.¡±


    ¡°What if she ran away?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°You¡¯re forgetting the crucial fact that we are on a floating island,¡± said Dian. ¡°And the Divas can¡¯t fly.¡±


    ¡°They can''t, but they can make ice,¡± said Sahara. ¡°What if she made a path of ice for herself?¡±


    ¡°First of all, the air is really thin up here. There aren¡¯t many water molecules for her to absorb to make the ice. Inside the school, there is pressure control so we don¡¯t get light headed, but otherwise.... Any ice outside the school at this elevation would be too brittle to walk on, unless there was a severe drop in temperature,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°Every power has something that prohibits it from working all the time.¡±


    ¡°Well, then. We can rule out escape. So does that mean someone kidnapped her?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°Either kidnapped or killed,¡± said Dian. ¡°The person is obviously targeting the Divas, which is why they left her bracelet there as a reminder that they are next. My bet is on killed.¡±


    ¡°But they haven¡¯t found a body. After they find a body, then I can perform an autopsy,¡± said Garnet. ¡°Once I figure out what type of power killed Aisa, Oma has access to everyone in the school¡¯s personal files. She can check to see if there were any skirmishes between the Divas and anyone with that specific power.¡±


    ¡°Only after you have found out the type,¡± said Oma. ¡°I don¡¯t like to abuse my power as library assistant.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t the assistant, Oma!¡± said Amethyst. ¡°You practically run the library! Drunk Mr. Sach just snores in the other room all day while you take care of everything!¡±


    ¡°Ok, fine, I run the library, but that still doesn''t mean I can look through records at my wish,¡± said Oma.


    ¡°You actually can, but you choose not to,¡± said Dian.


    ¡°It¡¯s immoral! Plus, it makes me feel guilty,¡± said Oma. ¡°But I¡¯ll do it if I have to to find who¡¯s trying to kill people around here.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Don¡¯t a lot of people not like Divas?¡± asked Phila. ¡°I mean, practically our entire group hates them. Nadia, especially you because they rejected you.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill Aisa, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re saying,¡± said Nadia. ¡°And besides, I was with you guys the whole time.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying. I¡¯m saying the killer could hate the divas. But the people that hate them, most were the people that were either abused by them, or rejected from them,¡± said Phila. ¡°Nadia, you used to be a Diva. Which group got excluded prior to the water group?¡±


    ¡°Hm... I¡¯d say the Misters,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Their power was creating water into fog/mist. The Ice Divas didn¡¯t like them because they were ¡®too warm¡¯. Oh and since you came here so late, they used to be the H2O Divas, all exclusive water only. Like, anything that had to do with water was allowed in.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but the Misters can¡¯t kill that easily,¡± said Garnet. ¡°If it was them, they must have used an object to kill, like maybe stabbed her to death. And if she was stabbed, we¡¯d have no way of knowing who killed her.¡±


    ¡°No definite way, that is,¡± Amethyst added. ¡°Unless we figure out potential victims and then use a mind reader.¡±


    ¡°All of the psychics are locked up in the north wing,¡± said Dian. ¡°They have specially enhanced bracelets that don¡¯t let them use their powers on a regular basis. It¡¯s to prevent them from cheating and abusing the other students personal thoughts. But they are allowed to use them in special training rooms.¡±


    Ella paused. ¡°Do you think Madame Myalo would be against helping find the killer?¡±


    ¡°Madame Myalo couldn¡¯t care less what happens to us,¡± said Garnet. ¡°That¡¯s why the death rate is so high here.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t we at least try?¡± asked Ella. She looked at all the other students.


    Nadia sighed. ¡°But why? Why would you want to help the Ice Divas? Why them? Doing Amethyst¡¯s potions homework would be less of a waste of time than this!¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Amethyst protested.


    Dian sighed. ¡°Doing Amethyst¡¯s homework for her, since she will do it anyways, even if it takes her three years like that one extra credit assignment.¡±


    Amethyst huffed. ¡°Dr. Wey said my work went above and beyond his expectations!¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t supposed to invent a brand new potion! Ah, nevermind,¡± Dian gave up.


    ¡°I also invented a new potion,¡± said Sahara. ¡°But look where that got us.¡±


    Amethyst huffed again. ¡°You did not invent anything. You mixed random solutions with no intelligent reason!¡±


    ¡°At least I know how to duplicate it,¡± said Sahara smiling evilly. ¡°Not that we would need to..."


    Amethyst sarcastically applauded. ¡°Congratulations!¡± She paused. ¡°But seriously, if you¡¯re interested in making actual potions, just ask.¡±


    Garnet looked at Sahara. ¡°Yeah, you were pretty good in class today, you may want to try it. Potentially.¡±


    ¡°And Sahara, I will no longer trust any potion you as me to drink,¡± said Phila, who everyone would have assumed she was joking, but was given out as serious by her hair changing black. ¡°I mean it.¡±

 Chad

    Phila woke up and saw it was 5am. It was Saturday morning and she was surprised it was the weekend already. She didn¡¯t have anything to do, so she decided to go to the training room to practice.


    When Phila got to the private room, she changed her appearance into a skinnier, slightly longer haired version of herself. It was enough to not be recognized, but could be identified by her friends. She sat down on the leather couch, next to where a boy with flippy dark brown hair was sitting and playing Mario Kart.


    ¡°Hey, are you new?¡± the boy asked her.


    Phila¡¯s eyes got wide and she stuttered, ¡°Oh um, yes, I am.¡±


    ¡°Cool. Hi, I¡¯m Chad,¡± said Chad with a grin,holding out his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m Phila,¡± said Phila, finally realizing Chad was talking to her, and shook his hand.


    ¡°So what power do you have?¡± asked Chad, sizing her up.


    ¡¯You tell me,¡± said Phila with a grin as she morphed into a him.


    ¡°Whoa! Ok, shapeshifter. I get it,¡± said Chad inching away with a nervous grin.


    ¡°What powers do you have?¡± she asked.


    He frowned. ¡°I can read minds. Most people¡¯s anyway. But not yours, for some reason.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s good,¡± said Phila laughing.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I read your mind? Either your mind is silent, or your powers protect you.¡± said Chad as he raised his eyebrows at Phila.


    Phila¡¯s hair turned red as she laughed. She heard the door open and saw her friends walk in.


    ¡°Hey Phila, there you are, we¡¯ve been looking for you,¡± said Sahara glancing at Chad.


    ¡°Yeah, we want to continue training,¡± said Ella who directed her attention at Chad and her mouth was agape.


    Chad snorted and burst out laughing. ¡°Why, thank you Ella,¡± he said between laughs. Ella looked taken aback.


    ¡°Stop it, Chad,¡± said Phila. ¡°This is Chad, he can read minds, but not mine for some reason. Probably the same reason Father couldn¡¯t¡­. Nevermind.¡±


    ¡°Well that explains it,¡± said Ella turning red.


    ¡°Oh ok, nice to meet you, Chad,¡± said Sahara cooly, her face unusually flat.


    ¡°Phila, training time,¡± she said turning around.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°Hey, nice to see you too, Sahara,¡± said Chad.


    ¡°Shoot!¡± said Sahara, returning to her normal self.


    ¡°You¡¯ll need to work on your force fields if you want that to stop me,¡± Chad smiled.


    ¡°Ok, this is getting freaky, Phila. Let¡¯s go,¡± said Sahara. Phila looked at Chad.


    ¡°Where are you guys going?¡± he asked. ¡°I see you haven¡¯t decided yet.¡±


    Dian sighed. ¡°No point of hiding from you. We¡¯re helping Phila, Ella and Sahara practice for the next games in P.E.¡±


    ¡°Really? I see you want to beat Frida,¡± said Chad. ¡°She can be a real pain sometimes. Along with the rest of her group.¡±


    ¡°Yup. I dont think you¡¯re going to leave us alone, so I¡¯ll just ask. Do you want to come and practice with us?¡± asked Amethyst.


    ¡°Really? I would love that,¡± Chad smiled.


    Phila and Ella turned red and Sahara huffed.


    Phila suddenly had a realization. ¡°Wait, how can you use your mind-reading if you have a bracelet?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± said Chad. ¡°I guess my powers are really strong. I¡¯ve gotten better with practice, but I bet I would be stronger without this. I can¡¯t see the past.¡± said Chad getting up and leading the girls to the door.


    Once at the training center, the girls got back to what they were doing. Chad raised his eyebrow and looked around.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know these were here,¡± he said.


    ¡°Not many do except for the Ice Divas, us, and now you,¡± said Nadia.


    ¡°Cool,¡± said Chad and walked around. ¡°Ella, try flying straighter rather than hunched over, your wings will be stronger,¡± called out Chad. Ella blushed and straightened her body.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± said Ella as she dropped the 10 pound dummy and picked up the 30 pound dummy.


    ¡°Sahara, try focusing your energy and power into your hands and try to form the bubble instead of trying to make a bubble materialize itself around you.¡± said Chad as he walked past Sahara, who nodded at him.


    The last of Sahara¡¯s force field sputtered as she stopped and closed her eyes. Suddenly purple streams came out of her palms and Sahara started to wave them around herself. She opened her eyes and saw a force field bubble around her. She laughed. ¡°Wow! Its working!¡± she said as she started walking with it.


    ¡°Phila, here let me help you,¡± said Chad, coming over to Phila who was having trouble shifting into a smaller form.


    ¡°Here, try clearing your mind and focus on one thing. Take a deep breath and visualize the object completely.¡±


    Phila took a deep breath and her form shrunk; she had turned into a rose.


    Chad blushed and picked the rose up. All the girls came over and surrounded Chad.


    ¡°Is that Phila? Aww, it¡¯s so cute,¡± said Ella.


    Sahara grinned. ¡°Chad, I hope you know Victorian Flower language,¡± said Sahara. Chad looked at her and his blush deepened. ¡°Now I do.¡± he said with a nervous grin.


    All the girls laughed as the rose started to shudder. Chad put it down and Phila returned. ¡°I came back by choice. I can control my morphing now!¡± said Phila with a grin.


    Chad hugged Phila and all the girls ¡®awed¡¯ and started clapping.


    ¡°So, Chad,¡± said Sahara, giving Chad a disapproving glance. ¡°Why were you sent here anyways?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that. You guys don¡¯t want me to bore you with those useless details,¡± said Chad, looking away.


    ¡°Please tell us,¡± said Ella, getting excited.


    ¡°Okay fine. I got sent here because I was getting headaches from all the talking inside my head,¡± said Chad. ¡°My parents thought I was insane because I kept talking to them about ¡®the voices¡¯. But there was a lady at the asylum that recognized I was special, so she sent me here when I was six.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Sahara said dubiously. ¡°Well, we really need to be going now. See you later! Maybe.¡± Sahara left while grabbing Ella and Phila and running away. Chad waved to Phila.

 Chad??!!??

    ¡°It happened again,¡± said Oma, placing her tray down at the lunch table. She had just set her chicken pot pie on fire on accident.


    ¡°What happened?¡± asked Amethyst. Chad sat down next to Phila.


    ¡°Another Diva disappeared. Yekti this time,¡± said Garnet. ¡°We found her body, though. She was stabbed 19 times in the head.¡±


    ¡°19 times?¡± asked Savera. ¡°In the head? That¡¯s a lot of stabbing. They really intended to kill.¡± Chad shifted nervously in his seat.


    ¡°Hey Chad, can you see if anyone here is guilty?¡± asked Phila. ¡°Or maybe read their minds?¡± Chad turned a sickly shade of green.


    ¡°I have to go,¡± he muttered before he rushed out of the lunchroom. Sahara raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t Chad seem a little... sketchy?¡± asked Savera. Phila shot her a mean look.


    ¡°He is not! He just needed to go, that¡¯s all,¡± said Phila, trying to make an excuse for Chad¡¯s weird behavior.


    ¡°No, Sahara¡¯s right. Chad was getting sick the moment we started talking about the murders,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°And he hates the Divas.¡±


    ¡°True, he could have killed Yekti. He had a free period while we had training,¡± said Nadia. ¡°And Yekti is the only Diva who wasn¡¯t in their training class.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Chad¡¯s nice, he would never do something like that,¡± said Phila defensively.


    ¡°You met him 6 hours ago,¡± said Dian. ¡°And you practically know nothing about him. Even I don¡¯t know that much about him, even though we¡¯ve both been here since we were 6.¡±


    ¡°I used to be his friend,¡± said Oma. ¡°But that was 8 years ago. He could have changed.¡±


    ¡°All the clues lead up to him, Phila,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°He is obviously the killer. Or, at least he seems like the most significant figure.¡± Phila looked down at her food. She poked at it.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go find him,¡± announced Phila. Sahara stood up.


    ¡°Oh no you aren¡¯t. Not without me,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t want you getting hurt.¡± Phila walked past Sahara, out the door, and down to the library, where she found Mr.Sach drunkenly slumped over on his desk. She poked him until he woke up.


    ¡°Whaddya want,¡± he drunkenly drooled.


    ¡°Did you see a boy with dark brown hair who looked like he was about to be sick come near here?¡± asked Phila. Sach looked at her with his bloodshot eyes and pointed Phila towards the airlocks.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± she said walking towards the door leading to airlock 7. Phila opened the door and gasped. Frida was on top of Chad and making out with him.


    ¡°Chad!¡± growled Phila. Frida got up off of Chad.


    ¡°Well, Chad, looks like you have a visitor,¡± said Frida, snidely. Chad put his hands up.


    ¡°Phila, I can explain,¡± he started before Phila cut him off.


    ¡°No Chad, I don¡¯t want you to explain anything. I¡¯m done,¡± she said, her hair turning black. She slammed the door that sealed away airlock 7 and stormed off to her dorm room.

 Thanks a Lot, Chad

    ¡°Phila, come on! Revert back!¡± said Ella, poking Phila¡¯s goopy substance with a pencil.


    ¡°Would you quit doing that? She¡¯s turning red again,¡± said Sahara, grabbing the pencil out of Ella¡¯s hands and snapping it. ¡°She¡¯s been like this for hours!¡± Dian sat down next to Phila.


    ¡°Phila, please, we can¡¯t help you if we don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong,¡± said Dian, stroking Phila. Phila remained goop.


    ¡°Amethyst is working on a solution that will force her to solidify,¡± said Garnet popping her head in the dorm. ¡°Good thing we don¡¯t have classes today.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°I just realized I don¡¯t need a potion,¡± said Amethyst, putting her hand onto Phila. ¡°I can phase change-- I forgot. Funny how I use my actual power less than my abilities,¡± Phila¡¯s goo started to shiver as it morphed into Phila¡¯s human form, complete with black hair and Gothic makeup. She started crying into a pillow.


    ¡°Aw Phila, now can you tell us what¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Nadia. Phila shot an angry glance at all of them.


    ¡°It¡¯s Chad. He¡¯s obviously the murderer.¡± said Phila before reverting back into the goo.

 Oh Boys

    ¡°Phila! There you are,¡± said Chad rushing to catch up with Phila, who was walking to the lounge. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to talk to you about something.¡± Phila looked him coldly in the eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll bet you have,¡± she said harshly, pushing him out of her way as she made her way into the lounge.


    ¡°Phila,¡± said Chad as he put his hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± snapped Phila as she covered her body in piercing metal spikes. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about-¡±


    ¡°Just go away. Don¡¯t you see that I don¡¯t want to talk to you? Just get out of here. I never want to talk to you again,¡± roared Phila, towering over him. Chad¡¯s eyes widened as he looked at the ground and walked away.


    *                        *                          *


    Ella was walking to Power Art and saw Garnet and Amethyst having a hushed conversation in the hallway. She was going to catch up, but heard something much more interesting and decided to listen in.


    Garnet whispered, ¡°That Chad¡­ he changed so much! Do you remember, back when I had just come, he was our orientation guide-- this sweet, shy guy¡­ I knew there was something fishy about him¡­¡±


    Amethyst nodded. ¡°But I hate to assume that he¡¯s a full on murderer, you know? There¡¯s just not enough scientific evidence,¡± she interrupted Garnet¡¯s words, ¡°And yes, we need scientific evidence, something not based on assumptions and inner feelings.¡±


    Garnet sighed. ¡°Maybe we should ask one of the new girls to help gather some. I think Ella was rather taken by him.¡±


    Amethyst responded, ¡°She¡¯s ¡®rather taken¡¯ by all guys.¡±


    Garnet and Amethyst laughed. ¡°Speaking of, I was gonna ask you if you wanted to help me make a love potion for her, to give to some guy? I hate to see her heart broken again and again.¡±


    Garnet agreed, ¡°Good idea. And while you¡¯re at it¡­¡± She continued talking


    Ella realized that the conversation was no longer about Chad and therefore not secretive. She came up to them. ¡°Hey Garnet, Amethyst!¡±


    Garnet smiled as if the serious conversation had never happened. ¡°Good morning! What class do you have now?¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Ella looked at her notebook. ¡°Power art.¡±


    Amethyst laughed. ¡°Well, in that case, you already passed it. Five doors down on the left.¡±


    Ella glanced back. ¡°Oh, no! Thanks guys, see you later!¡±


    Ella debated whether to tell the others what she overheard, but finally gave in.


    ¡°They want to make a love potion for us?¡± asked Phila, stabbing her clay sculpture with a metal spoon. It was easier for her to transform into any figure than it was for the clay, and she was easily becoming frustrated.


    Ella shook her head. ¡°For me! And that¡¯s not the important part!¡±


    ¡°If they do it to you, they¡¯re bound to do it for me. Look what Chad did. Next time, they''re going to want to make sure he actually likes me,¡± grumbled Phila.


    Ella shook her head.¡± Why don¡¯t you just ask Amethyst to make you one? She enjoys making potions so much it¡¯s scary.¡±


    ¡°No, it has to be natural,¡± said Phila.


    Dian shook her head. ¡°Then why did you want a love potion in the first place?¡±


    ¡°If you actually paid attention to what I was saying,¡± said Phila. ¡°You would have noticed that I seem agitated by the fact that they¡¯re going to make some guy fall in love with me because they feel sorry for me.¡±


    Ella blinked. ¡°You do? I didn¡¯t notice.¡± Phila gave Ella a bland look.


    The teacher, Mr. Isley, walked by. ¡°Great job, Sahara, your glass bowl looks great! Excellent inspiration from your power!¡± He stopped and looked at Phila¡¯s mound of stabbed clay.


    ¡°Interesting perception of the arts, I like how abstract it is!¡± he said, running his fingers through the lumpy spoon marks.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s it. I¡¯m officially done,¡± said Phila, stabbing her spoon into the clay and leaving the classroom.


    ¡°Marvelous!¡± said Mr. Isley. ¡°This is getting more abstract by the minute!¡± Ella was busy gluing feathers on her styrofoam bird while Dian was splatter painting a canvas with electricity.


    ¡°Good work girls!¡± said Mr. Isley, making another round around the classroom.


    ¡°I wish he would stop doing that, it¡¯s getting really annoying,¡± said Dian, noticing Phila came back into the room.


    ¡°I¡¯m tired of everyone being phony,¡± she said. ¡°Chad never really liked me, Amethyst wants to chemically create artificial love, and even Mr. Isley thinks my sculpture is amazing!¡±


    ¡°I love the addition of the spoon to your sculpture, it makes the viewer think about what was going on in your mind when you made this piece,¡± said Mr. Isley. Phila sighed.


    ¡°Even I¡¯m artificial,¡± she said, folding her hands. Phila grabbed another spoon and went back to stabbing the clay.


    ¡°I think the love potion is a good idea,¡± said Ella. ¡°But I want to pick out which boy I want.¡±


    ¡°Ella, that¡¯s weird. What if you woke up and had a strange attraction to some creepy guy?¡± asked Sahara. ¡°How would you feel?¡±


    ¡°Hey! I am not creepy,¡± said Ella, glueing the last feather on the bird.


    ¡°Look, the potion would eventually wear off and he would realize he¡¯s dating you,¡± said Dian. ¡°And he could break up with you when that happens.¡±


    ¡°I still want to try,¡± said Ella. ¡°I want to know what it¡¯s like to have someone love you.¡±

 Terrance

    ¡°Oh my goodness,¡± said Ella, grabbing onto Sahara. They were walking into History of Powers, and Ella had spotted another hot guy.


    ¡°Oh Ella,¡± said Dian, brushing past her and taking a seat. ¡°What will we do with you?¡± Ella looked at the guy, with blonde hair and large brown eyes.


    ¡°Wave at him,¡± giggled Sahara as Ella gave him a nervous wave. The boy smiled as he took the seat next to Ella.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Harry, but my friends call me Hazy because of my power,¡± said the boy. ¡°I¡¯m a Mister.¡±


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Sahara, and this is Ella,¡± said Sahara. ¡°And the girl with the black hair moping around next to me is Phila.¡±


    ¡°I am not moping,¡± she snapped as she took her seat.


    ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± Hazy said, looking at Ella. ¡°So, what power do you have?¡± he asked Ella and Sahara.


    ¡°Oh, I can fly and I have super speed,¡± said Ella, dreamily staring into Hazy¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I can turn invisible and I can make forcefields,¡± said Sahara, grinning at Ella. ¡°And the thing that¡¯s turning into me is a shifter. Seriously Phila, it¡¯s not funny. My eyebrows aren¡¯t that bad. Well, I better be going to my seat,¡± she said walking away from the two who were staring into each other¡¯s eyes. Phila scowled as she morphed back into her form.


    ¡°Alright class, settle down. Today we will start with a rather short topic about invisibility. Now, I see we have two invisible students in today¡¯s class, but I only see one,¡± said Mr. Trawn looking at Sahara who turned red as everyone directed their attention towards her.


    ¡°Well, I believe we have a full class, so that must be our other invisible student, Terrence,¡± said Mr. Trawn directing his attention to what looked like an empty seat.


    A boy with dark black hair and yellow eyes flickered into being. He gave a weak wave.


    ¡°Now that our entire class is here, we can talk about the origins of invisibility,¡± said Mr. Trawn, going up to the chalkboard. He dipped his hands in white paint and pointed his fingers at the chalkboard. Words and formulas appeared on the board as he waved around his finger.


    ¡°Invisibility is a rare power. It is rarely seen, because of the conditions needed in order to inherit invisibility. Although it can be acquired with a potion, only when it is a power can it be altered at wish,¡± said Mr. Trawn, wiping his hands and turning to look at the class who was scribbling down notes.


    ¡°Now, because of its unbalanced nature, invisibility is almost never seen with another power. Invisibility most often cancels out any other inheritance of power-¡± said Mr. Trawn but was interrupted by Ella.


    ¡°But Mr. Trawn, Sahara can make forcefields too!¡± she blurted out.


    Mr. Trawn raised an eyebrow at Sahara. ¡°Can you really?¡± he said. He went to his desk and flung his can of white paint at Sahara.


    Screams and gasps echoed as Sahara closed her eyes and held her hands in front of her. Purple wisps snaked out of her palms and a force field bubble appeared around her protecting her from the paint can.


    ¡°Very impressive,¡± said Mr. Trawn. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you could conjure such a force field with your bracelet. It is truly interesting how you could have such strong force fields with invisibility. It isn''t possible¡­¡± said Mr. Trawn muttering the last part to himself.


    Sahara waved away the force field, with her face bright red.


    ¡°Although this is a rare case, when a person gets invisibility, the chance of any other powers are almost nonexistent. If any are apparent, the effort of invisibility weakens any other power, since invisibility is hard to keep for a long time. I see Terrence here has no issues, even with his bracelet.¡± said Mr. Trawn looking at an empty desk.


    ¡°How are you staying invisible for so long with your bracelet?¡± said Mr. Trawn suspiciously. ¡°Maybe your bracelets are glitching. Sahara, I need to see you and Terrence after class please,¡± said Mr. Trawn continuing the lesson.


    After class, Sahara went up to Mr. Trawn¡¯s desk with no sign of Terrence. ¡°I¡¯m new here Mr. Trawn, I don''t know much about my powers or my bracelet. Are my force fields a dangerous thing?¡± asked Sahara as Mr. Trawn inspected her bracelet.


    ¡°To be honest, I don''t know Sahara. What was your last name again?¡± asked Mr. Trawn.


    ¡°Bahadur, sir,¡± she said. ¡°But I was adopted so I don''t know anything about my parents,¡± she said.


    ¡°I see, I¡¯ll have to see what I can find out,¡± said Mr. Trawn. ¡°Terrence? You still here?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± said a voice directly behind Sahara peering closely at Sahara¡¯s bracelet. Sahara surprised jerked backwards.


    ¡°Sorry, I tend to surprise people,¡± said Terrance. ¡°Please, don¡¯t be afraid.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± muttered Sahara as Mr. Trawn looked closely at her bracelet. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have any damage,¡± said Mr. Trawn. ¡°You must have strong powers, you too.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it doesn¡¯t work that well on invisibility,¡± said Sahara. ¡°My adopted sister Phila¡¯s bracelet doesn¡¯t work on her powers either. She¡¯s a shifter.¡±


    ¡°Hm, she was adopted too? What¡¯s her last name,¡± said Mr. Trawn.


    ¡°Dhoor. And I have a third sister, Ellasome Kaze, who is also adopted,¡± said Sahara. Mr. Trawn thought for a moment.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know Spomin Falt, would you?¡± asked Mr. Trawn. Sahara thought for a moment.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that name before,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s on the tip of my tongue.¡± Mr. Trawn smiled.


    ¡°If you told me you knew him, I knew you would be lying. I was his old friend back when he went to school here. He sent me a letter telling me his three adopted daughters would be coming here, but he wiped their memories,¡± said Mr. Trawn.


    ¡°Could you find out some information about him for me?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°Of course,¡± said Mr. Trawn. ¡°Oh, and I¡¯m deeply sorry about your father¡¯s death.¡± Sahara looked at Mr. Trawn, shocked.


    ¡°He¡¯s dead? And I don¡¯t even remember him?¡± asked Sahara, horrified.


    ¡°Oh dear,¡± said Mr. Trawn. ¡°You say your sister is a shapeshifter. Memory wipes don''t work on them.¡±


    ¡°Philas been hiding this from me the whole time? Are you kidding me? Our father died and she didn¡¯t even tell us? shrieked Sahara outraged. ¡°She let us go on not even knowing we had a father? What happened to her?¡± Terrance grabbed Sahara¡¯s arm.


    ¡°Everything is going to be fine,¡± he said. ¡°Just talk to your sister. It¡¯s easier to talk to your siblings than it is to regular people.¡±


    ¡°No! Its not!¡± yelled Sahara jerking her arm away. ¡°Im sorry, I have to leave.¡± Sahara rushed out of the room in tears. Panicked, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned invisible and began to run.


    ¡°Stop,¡± said Terrence.


    Sahara turned around but couldn''t find Terrence. He appeared in front of her. ¡°You can¡¯t hide from me, so forget it,¡± he said, walking towards Sahara. ¡°I can see people who are using their invisibility,¡± he said. ¡°The only person who knows is Mr. Trawn, and now you,¡± he said.


    ¡°Why are you following me?¡± asked Sahara. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Calm down,¡± he said his hands out. ¡°I dont want to hurt you, I want to help you. So if you could stop acting like I¡¯m some creepy mutant, it would be nice.¡±


    Sahara took a deep breath, ¡°Ok, I¡¯m sorry. But to tell the truth, you are a creepy mutant,¡± she said with a weak smile.


    Terrence stood there and suddenly burst out laughing. ¡°I guess I am, aren''t I?¡± he said with a grin. Sahara couldn¡¯t help but notice the dimples that appeared on his cheeks, much like her own when she laughed.


    ¡°Hey Terrence, what did you say your last name was?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m Terrence, Terrence Jeet.¡± he said holding out his hand.


    Sahara shook it. ¡°Oh, I thought maybe... nevermind. Well, it was nice meeting you, Terrence Jeet, but I have to go now.¡±


    ¡°Ok, and Sahara, talk to your sister. I don''t think she left you in the dark by purpose. Don¡¯t blast her with one of your crazy force fields.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t, thank you,¡± said Sahara. She walked out of the classroom and found Ella holding hands with Haze.


    ¡°Guess who just got a boyfriend?¡± asked Phila. Sahara looked at Ella, shocked. Dian sat looking guilty about something in the corner, but no one paid her any attention.


    ¡°Surprise surprise! It¡¯s Ella!¡± said Sahara with a quick grin. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but its time for Hazy to leave.¡± said Sahra shoving Hazy out the door.


    ¡°Meet me at lunch!¡± he called out as Sahara shut the door. Ella looked all swoony.


    ¡°He told me I was the most gorgeous girl he had ever laid eyes on,¡± she said, grinning. ¡°And he blew little smoke hearts at me!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nice, Ella. Phila, we have something to talk about,¡± said Sahara, getting down to business. She thought for a moment.


    ¡°Actually, Ella, you should stay here too. Dian, would you mind giving us some personal sisterly time to talk?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°Sure, no problem,¡± said Dian looking relieved and stepped out the room.


    ¡°Phila, you never told us about Father,¡± said Sahara quietly. Phila looked down at the ground.


    ¡°Oh, about that,¡± she started. ¡°It was a traumatic experience, and he wiped your memories for a reason. He didn¡¯t want us to feel lonely here. And I was going to tell you guys, but you were having such a great time I didn¡¯t want to ruin it.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± said Ella with tears streaming. ¡°We had a father and he died and you didn''t tell us?¡±


    ¡°Whatever, its fine,¡± said Sahara shaking, ¡°But Phila, please tell us if there¡¯s anything else like that. And now you have to fill us in on our father.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, ok I will, but how¡¯d you find out?¡± asked Phila.


    Sahara explained what Mr. Trawn had told her and about Terrence.


    ¡°Well either way, this Mr. Trawn seems useful,¡± said Phila. ¡°So when is he going to tell us what he finds about our parents?¡±


    ¡°He said sometime after lunch. Yeah, do you think Terrence is suspicious? Maybe he¡¯s seen someone who¡¯s been going around killing the Ice Divas!¡± exclaimed Sahara. ¡°He can see invisible people! Maybe someone¡¯s sneaking around the school and the school cameras can''t pick it up.¡±


    ¡°Amethyst did say that invisibility could be artificially created,¡± said Ella. ¡°And she did craft it right in front of us. Since you and Terence are the only two invisibles in the school, they could have been using potions!¡±


    ¡°Right! But few people know how to make an invisibility potion. Only Amethyst, a few students, and the teachers,¡± said Sahara. ¡°It¡¯s not Amethyst, she¡¯s been with us every time a Diva was killed. It¡¯s probably not a teacher, but you never know. Sach looks pretty suspicious.¡±


    ¡°Sach is a useless hunk of hangover,¡± said Phila. ¡°The word ¡®sober¡¯ isn¡¯t in his vocabulary. And besides, even if you try to tell me he killed them in a drunken fit, he can¡¯t even walk right, much less chase down a Diva to kill.¡±


    ¡°So we are pretty sure the killer is invisible,¡± said Ella. ¡°If they didn¡¯t use invisibility potion, what else could they have used?¡±


    ¡°We have Empowered Items after lunch,¡± said Sahara. ¡°We should ask around and see if there are any items that can make you invisible.¡± Dian slammed the door open.


    ¡°Esma is gone,¡± said Dian, panting since she ran through the school. ¡°Half the Divas are dead.¡±

 Haze and Ella are Dating?

    ¡°They found her and Aisa¡¯s bodies on top of one another,¡± said Garnet. ¡°And Aisa has been dead for almost three days.¡± People were filling into the lunchroom.


    ¡°Now this is getting creepy,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Three people dead in three days from the same friend group.¡± Haze sat down next to Ella, and put his arm around her.


    ¡°Oh shoot, I forgot a drink,¡± he said getting up.


    ¡°I have an extra,¡± said Amethyst, tossing him a bottle of pink liquid. Haze caught it.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he said right before he took a sip. ¡°Wow, this is really good.¡±


    ¡°I made it myself. I would tell you exactly what¡¯s in it, but it¡¯s my secret recipe,¡± said Amethyst, winking at Dian, who looked like she was going to have an aneurysm. ¡°Actually, recipes are for baking. This is more of a hybrid solution--¡±


    ¡°Dian, you don¡¯t look so good,¡± said Ella, interrupting Amethyst. ¡°Do you need some fresh air?¡± Dian held onto Garnet as she got up. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Hey Garnet, can you walk me to the Hospital Wing?¡± Dian asked Garnet as they left. Amethyst waved goodbye to them.


    ¡°Dian doesn¡¯t like the drinks I make,¡± said Amethyst, improvising. ¡°Her tastebuds lack proper recognition of art.¡±


    ¡°Ow,¡± said Phila. ¡°Whoever is playing footsies under the table, please stop.¡± She looked directly at Ella and Haze.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± said a voice. ¡°I thought there was room here.¡± Terrance appeared.


    ¡°Terrance, did you hear what happened to Esma?¡± asked Sahara. Nadia mouthed ¡®who is this¡¯ to the rest of the table.


    ¡°Terrance, meet my friends, and Ella¡¯s boyfriend Haze,¡± said Sahara.


    ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t I one of your friends? After all, a friend of my baby Ella is a friend of me!¡± he said gleefully. Ella blushed.


    ¡°Ok¡­¡± said Terrance, scooching closer to Sahara. ¡°Yes, I heard about Esma.¡± He looked at his watch.


    ¡°Actually, we have to go now. Mr. Trawn told me to meet him around this time in case he found out anything about your father or sisters,¡± said Terrance. ¡°And he may have found stuff out about my mother, too.¡± Sahara stood up.


    ¡°What are we waiting for, let¡¯s find out!¡± she said, walking out of the lunchroom.

 Family Reunion

    ¡°Ah, Sahara and Terrence,¡± said Mr. Trawn. ¡°I have some information for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh good,¡± said Sahara. ¡°Anything really shocking?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave that up for you to decide. First, I have news for both of you,¡± said Mr. Trawn, smiling. ¡°You¡¯re twins.¡± Sahara looked at Terrace as he looked at her.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± said Terrance.


    ¡°It¡¯s not, actually. Your father died three months before you two were born. After your birth, your mother found it too hard to care for you both, so she took you to the adoption center. But since it was already full, they took Sahara because her appearance gave her a greater chance of getting adopted. But soon after she gave up Sahara, she met a rich normal human who decided to take her in. But she was still weak, and died shortly after their marriage,¡± said Mr. Trawn.


    ¡°So my abusive father wasn¡¯t really my father after all?¡± asked Terrance. ¡°No wonder he beat me.¡±


    ¡°He beat you?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s how I learned to stay invisible for so long. I prefer to be invisible, actually. My father could never find me when he wanted to hit me, so he sent me off to get tested by a psychologist for problems. The psychologist recognized that I was special right away and sent me here,¡± said Terrance. ¡°But now I know I¡¯m not related directly to such a jerk.¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°There¡¯s more,¡± said Mr. Trawn. ¡°Your mother had invisibility. And your father could see invisibility, which is probably why Terrance has those powers. And possibly the reason he married her.¡± Sahara smiled.


    ¡°Thanks so much!¡± she told Mr. Trawn. ¡°But did you find anything about my sisters?¡±


    ¡°You don''t have sisters Sahara,¡± said Mr. Trawn gently. ¡°Terrence, Phila, and Ella are the only siblings you have, and only Terrence is really related to you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, ok,¡± said Sahara. ¡°I meant my adopted sisters.¡±


    ¡°I will try and see what I can do. But now I think both of you will be wanting to head on to class,¡± said Mr. Trawn.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Sahara and Terrence at the same time and headed out the classroom.


    Phila saw them come back and whispered to Garnet. ¡°Don¡¯t they look cute together?¡±


    Sahara overheard as she sat down. ¡°Phila, meet my biological brother and twin, Terrence,¡± she said with a grin.


    ¡°Woah! We have a brother!¡± Ella exclaimed. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted a brother!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great sweetie!¡± said Haze, patting Ella on the back.


    ¡°I have a brother,¡± said Sahara. ¡°He¡¯s my biological twin, and we got separated at birth.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s practically an adopted brother anyway. Close enough!¡± said Ella.


    ¡°You guys seem cool enough. It rocks to have actual siblings,¡± said Terrence shyly.


    Sahara smiled. ¡°Yeah, we have a lot of catching up to do... brother.¡±


    Phila grinned. ¡°Can I call you bro?¡±


    Sahara and Terrence both spoke at once. ¡°No!¡±

 Magical Items

    Phila was walking to Empowered Items class, being absolutely normal. Suddenly, she felt hand on her shoulder. The girl¡¯s clothes shapeshifted into something punk-rock and spiky as she stopped and turned around.


    ¡°What do you want, Chad?¡± She sighed.


    Chad smiled. ¡°Hey, Phila-rose!¡±


    Phila¡¯s makeup grew extremely dark and gothic. ¡°Do not call me that.¡±


    The boy grinned. ¡°Why not? You morphed into one during practice the other day, back when everything was fine.¡± He ignored her scowl. ¡°No, more than fine. In fact, it was so great, I¡¯d like to go back to that. Truce?¡±


    Phila snorted. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    He looked at her sadly. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you think I did, but I swear I¡¯ll make it up to you. Trust me! Can''t I ask you out normally? ¡±


    Phila huffed. ¡°In your dreams.¡± She walked off, leaving a stunned Chad behind her.


    As she opened the door to Empowered Items, Ella waved her to sit down next to her. Since Haze wasn¡¯t in this class, her wings drooped slightly. From her other side, Sahara frowned. ¡°What¡¯s with the gothic look?¡±


    ¡°Chad,¡± muttered Phila under her breath as she morphed into a 20 year old version of herself.


    Sahara frowned. ¡°What¡¯d he do? If he harmed you at all, I swear...¡±


    Dian nodded. ¡°We will kill him.¡± Knowing Dian, she could do it accidentally.


    Ella agreed, ¡°Painfully.¡±


    Dian started planning, ¡°Sahra, you trap him with a force field, Ella, you grab him and fly away to me, and I¡¯ll shock him as he falls to his death--¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Phila interrupted them. ¡°Guys! It¡¯s not that bad! All he did was ask me out!¡±


    There was an awkward pause as everyone looked away. Suddenly, Dian broke the


    silence.


    ¡°But that¡¯s terrible! The nerve of him! After what he did to you, and he still expects you to come crawling back to him? Get a grip on yourself!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? I would totally go out with that hottie!¡± Ella exclaimed. She was relieved Haze wasn¡¯t in that class with her, because that would be totally embarrassing. ¡°I mean, if I didn¡¯t already have Hazey.¡±


    ¡°Can we not talk about Haze,¡± said Dian, looking uncomfortable.


    ¡°Why? You jealous?¡± jeered Ella with a laugh.


    Dian didn¡¯t respond, but the lesson started, and the conversation was forgotten.


    ¡°Mrs. Osteler, are there any objects that could make someone, say, invisible?¡± asked Phila, remembering the conversation she had with her sisters earlier.


    The teacher paused. ¡°Why yes, Phila. Besides the regular potions, the philosopher¡¯s stone is rumored to have that as one of its powers, but there is also a hat that creates artificial invisibility, a necklace, some eyeglasses, and a special lipstick.¡±


    ¡°Lipstick?¡± asked Sahara.


    ¡°Yes, it works when it is activated by saliva. So when wearing it, you could be visible until you lick your lips,¡± said Mrs. Osteler. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t work 100% of the time.¡±


    ¡°As anyone borrowed these items recently perchance?¡± asked Sahara casually.


    ¡°If you mean a student has been using these items to turn invisible and has been conducting these murders, then no. No one has access to these items ever since the murders started.¡± said Mrs. Osteler. ¡°Sahara, I can read minds. Those aren¡¯t very nice thoughts directed at me. You should be ashamed of yourself.¡±


    Sahara¡¯s face turned red and she went back to her seat. They were so close to figuring out the murder, but now it seemed impossible.


    Sahara sat in her seat, miserable.


    ¡°Hey,¡± said a voice.


    ¡°Terrence!¡± exclaimed Sahara in a whisper and turned to face his invisible face. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Investigating,¡± he said. ¡°Now shhh, I have a free period, and I''m incognito.¡± said Terrence.


    Sahara couldn¡¯t feel his presence and assumed he left to snoop. This is still so weird, she thought. I can¡¯t believe I have an actual brother.

 Something Is Missing

    Just before the end of class, an announcement came onto the PA. ¡°Everyone, please go to the auditorium for a mandatory assembly,¡± Madame¡¯s voice announced calmly.


    Sahara and Phila exchanged worried glances.


    As the students left the classroom, hushed whispering was heard. ¡°I bet it¡¯s about the disappearances.¡± One girl said.


    ¡°Nah, she wouldn¡¯t and doesn¡¯t care about that. Maybe someone stole something?¡± A boy replied.


    ¡°Or, maybe there¡¯s a powerless here!¡± A thin girl gasped. Everyone looked nervously around.


    Dian rolled her eyes. ¡°Seriously? No powerless would ever get in here. It may be an assembly, but it definitely isn¡¯t about that.¡±


    Ella nodded. ¡°Besides, did these guys not live the first part of their lives surrounded by normal people? What¡¯s so scary about powerless? They¡¯re weaker than us, anyway¡­¡±


    Dian shook her head. ¡°They don¡¯t like us much. It¡¯s probably jealousy. But¡­ We don¡¯t mix. It¡¯s not a solution, but it works. We have our world, they have theirs.¡±


    Phila joined the conversation. ¡°Weird. To think we were able to live fine in that world but that they can¡¯t¡­ it¡¯s creepy, a bit.¡±


    Sahara nodded. ¡°Yeah, I bet that you Oma and Amethyst haven¡¯t seen a single powerless in years! They wouldn¡¯t know how to interact with them. Although, Amethyst would probably pour potions onto them instead of actually using her powers, and Oma would disappear in a whoosh of flames.¡±


    Dian grinned as they entered the auditorium and sat down.


    ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t really remember the powerless. But I did kill 3,¡± said Dian, sheepishly remembering her kindergarten class. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t really seem like a big deal for me.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Ella raised her eyebrows. ¡°I think I knocked a telephone pole over or something while flying once¡­ but that¡¯s it. The memory¡¯s pretty fuzzy.¡±


    Sahara nodded. ¡°Yeah, I remember something about that, but¡­ Phila? Do you remember?¡±


    Phila, of course, remembered perfectly, and also remembered how their father had erased that memory, but she just shrugged. ¡°Not really.¡±


    ¡°Liar,¡± said Sahara, playfully pushing Phila. ¡°Our father obviously wiped our memories if we have some recognition of the event.¡±


    Phila opened her mouth to respond, but just then, Madame Myalo stepped onto the auditorium stage and started speaking.


    ¡°Students,¡± started Madame Myalo. ¡°There has been a great misfortune that has happened here at the Academy.¡± Murmurs about the murders waved through the auditorium, but were softened as Madame Myalo raised her hands. The room went quiet.


    ¡°There is a thief among us,¡± said Madame Myalo to the surprised students who were expecting something about the murders. ¡°And they have stolen one of the school¡¯s heirlooms. It belonged to my grandmother, Madame Mana, who founded that school, and I would like to have it back.¡± The surprised students looked around at each other.


    ¡°If the thief isn¡¯t caught within this next month, I will have our Psychic staff interview each and every one of you,¡± said Madame Myalo. ¡°Resistance is futile.¡±


    A student interrupted. ¡°But, Madame, what exactly was stolen?¡±


    She smiled. ¡°Thank you, Wein. The precious item is simply Madame Mana¡¯s magic lipstick¡±


    The auditorium erupted into conversation. ¡°What did she say? Lipstick? What¡¯s so special about that?¡±


    However, Sahara and Dian exchanged worried glances. ¡°It¡¯s the thing that Mrs. Osteler was talking about! The false invisibility one!¡± Phila face palmed.


    ¡°Oh great,¡± groaned Phila. ¡°I¡¯m going to get suspected because I¡¯m immune to mind powers.¡±


    ¡°Now, now...¡± Madame Myalo tried to silence the auditorium. But she was unsuccessful. Almost every student was discussing how petty it was to call an assembly about a missing cosmetic, but none about the murder of three students. After a Mister flooded the auditorium with an uncontrollable burst of mist, the students filed out. Madame Myalo was left standing on the stage, trying to say something else, but no one heard her. The annoyed students headed off to their next classes, missing the last vital piece of information, something about a murderer.

 Love Potions

    Sahara walked to lunch, seemingly alone. In fact, anyone that would have been watching her would have thought that the girl was talking to herself, yet, as she nodded and listened, felt as if there really was someone there.


    ¡°Terrence, what do you think of this lipstick thing? Do you really think that the invisibility MO--¡±


    Terrence interrupted her. ¡°What?¡±


    Sahara continued. ¡°Magical object. Do you think this is the one? That would seem awfully coincidental.¡±


    ¡°Yet it makes sense.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, of course, but¡­ I don¡¯t know. First of all, do you agree that the murderer is Chad?¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m more suspicious about that one.¡±


    ¡°Nah, you just haven¡¯t met him yet.¡± They entered the hallway leading to the lunchroom.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. You know what else is fishy? Haze.¡±


    Sahara frowned. ¡°Come on! Ella is so happy with him!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He seems a bit¡­ set up.¡±


    ¡°Well, he wouldn¡¯t be pretending to like her, would he?¡±


    ¡°No, I think that he¡¯s honest. But he acts¡­ I don¡¯t know. Brainwashed?¡± Terrence flickered into view briefly.


    Sahara paused. ¡°What could have brainwashed him? Because now that you mention it, that seems right.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, a potion, perhaps?¡±


    Sahara stopped in front of the lunchroom door. ¡°Oh, my god.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Ella overheard Garnet and Amethyst talking about making a love potion for her so her heart wouldn¡¯t be broken again¡­ What if they did?¡±


    ¡°Is that why Dian can¡¯t even bring herself to look at Haze? I just thought she liked him, too, but maybe she¡¯s into it?¡±


    ¡°It makes so much sense! We need to tell her!¡±Stolen story; please report.


    Terrence stopped Sahara from entering the lunchroom. ¡°Why? She¡¯s happy, he¡¯s happy, and Amethyst clearly did it with good intentions!¡±


    Sahara paused. ¡°But we were just saying how Chad was fake and how that was bad¡­ it¡¯s not real, you know?¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯ll only hurt everyone, sister.¡±


    Sahara entered the lunchroom. ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll talk to Garnet, Amethyst, and Dian first. Ok?¡±


    Terrence reappeared to show he was smiling. ¡°I can live with that.¡± They walked to lunch and found Amethyst and Dian already sitting down.


    ¡°Dian, I need to talk to you about Ha-¡± started Sahara.


    ¡°No! I¡¯m innocent!¡± yelled Dian as she ran away from Sahara. ¡°Stand back or I¡¯ll electrocute you.¡±


    ¡°Calm down!¡± said Amethyst. ¡°Can¡¯t you see you¡¯re upsetting Dian, Sahara?¡± Sahara made a plain face.


    ¡°We need to talk about Haze,¡± said Sahara. Amethyst showed no sign of emotion.


    ¡°I made him a new drink flavor,¡± she said. ¡°I hope he likes this one as much as he likes Ella.¡± Phila walked over to the table and sat down.


    ¡°What is that lovely aroma coming off of your drink?¡± asked Phila. ¡°Well, since Amethyst made it, I guess it¡¯s trustworthy.¡± Phila grabbed the bottle of juice and took a sip right before Amethyst snatched it away from her.


    ¡°That¡¯s for Haze,¡± said Amethyst. She looked at Dian worriedly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Dian, she didn¡¯t drink much of it.¡± Phila looked lovingly at Terrance while Dian curled up into a ball.


    ¡°Why does it matter if she drank some?¡± asked Sahara her face passive.


    ¡°Phila, um, is a shape shifter,¡± said Amethyst, improvising on the spot. ¡°She likes to drink potions some times. And that one was for Haze.-¡±


    ¡°Stop,¡± said Terrence horrified at Phila. ¡°I know its a love potion, made for Haze and Ella.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, Terrance, it will only last a couple hours since she only had one sip,¡± said Amethyst, shaking her head.


    ¡°A couple hours?!¡± asked Terrance, pushing Phila away from him. ¡°Amethyst!¡±


    ¡°Terrence, run and lie low for a while. For safe keeping, I would say a day,¡± said Sahara, holding Phila back as Terrence ran out of the lunch room. Phila creepily followed and Sahara shook her head.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s his problem to deal with,¡± said Amethyst, wiping the rim of the juice glass. ¡°Anyways, you were going to try to convince me not to use the potion? Don¡¯t you see how happy Ella is?¡±


    ¡°I know Ella is happy, but it isn¡¯t real. Don¡¯t you think she deserves something real?¡± asked Sahara. Dian covered herself in her hair.


    ¡°It is real,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°What did you expect? Haze isn¡¯t an artificially created being whose sole purpose in life is to love Ella¡­¡±


    ¡°Amethyst, you know what I mean. He doesn''t love Ella. Its just a love potion,¡± said Sahara frustrated.


    ¡°Technically and scientifically, he does,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°Don¡¯t you see the way he drools over her?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fake. It¡¯s only because of the love potion,¡± said Sahara. ¡°It¡¯s not right to force him to love Ella if he doesn''t want to. You¡¯re only hurting Ella and Haze.¡± Dian finally burst and jolts of electricity shot out of her, impaling Sahara and several other students around her.


    ¡°No!¡± yelled Dian. ¡°Sahara! I¡¯m so sorry!¡± She bent down and picked up Sahara, who was badly electrocuted.


    ¡°This is all my fault,¡± she said as she looked at Sahara¡¯s left shoulder where the bolt had hit. ¡°Amethyst, quick help me get her to the Hospital Wing.¡± Amethyst grabbed Sahara¡¯s legs as Dian carried her upper body, careful not to hurt her shoulder.

 More About Oma

    Terrence rushed in, his face scrunched up in anger. Sahara was sitting on her bed with Ella, Oma and Amethyst. Garnet was tending to her shoulder.


    ¡°Who did this to you?¡± said Terrence. Phila hung off of Terrance¡¯s shoulders. After three hours, the love potion has still not worn off. Terrance decided to ignore her and carry on with his life. Sahara laughed.


    ¡°Calm down! Dian accidentally electrocuted me. It wasn''t a murder attempt. Speaking of Dian, where is she?¡±


    ¡°Bad news,¡± said Phila, breaking out of her lovey state for a minute. ¡°They found her bracelet and her hair in our dorm.¡±


    ¡°Her hair?¡± asked Amethyst, who had not been informed of this.


    ¡°They chopped it all off. All 5 feet of it,¡± said Phila, returning to her lovey state.


    ¡°That¡¯s terrible!¡± said Oma. ¡°Dian loves her hair! Whoever did this obviously wanted to deface her. But at least we know she¡¯s not dead.¡±


    ¡°How do you suppose?¡± asked Ella.


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t have cut her hair for nothing,¡± said Oma.


    They wanted information from her. Clearly its torture. She knows something they wanted.¡± said Sahara.


    ¡°There¡¯s also two other things that could have happened. Either she was kidnapped, or she cut her own hair and committed suicide. She would have left the hair as a remembrance of herself.¡± said Oma.


    ¡°No! She can¡¯t have!¡± cried out Sahara. ¡°If I wasn¡¯t agitating her, there wouldn¡¯t have been this incident.¡± Terrance traced his finger on the spiral that had burned into Sahara¡¯s shoulder, much like the spiraling scars on Frida¡¯s hands. Sahara looked turned and noticed it.


    ¡°Garnet, will this scar?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so. Most injuries inflicted by powers scar, which is why Oma¡¯s face¡­.¡± Garnet stopped herself short as she continued to clean up to back room.


    ¡°Oma¡¯s face what?¡± demanded Sahara. ¡°You guys are hiding a lot here and you aren''t telling us. Spill it. All of it, now.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Oma. ¡°But this is the only time you will see my face.¡± Oma brushed the red, cascading hair out of her face to reveal jarring three degree burns spiking out. She shook her head as her bangs fell over it. They did a good job of hiding the scars, since no one really looked Oma.


    ¡°What happened?¡± asked Sahara self consciously rubbing her scar.


    ¡°I set myself on fire when I was really young,¡± whispered Oma, hiding her face. ¡°The flames wouldn¡¯t go out. I lay there burning in my room until my parents came home from work. I have been here since I was four years old.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± said Terrence


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know any better,¡± whispered Oma. ¡°Both my parents had fire powers, but theirs didn¡¯t come until they were eight. I can¡¯t remember why exactly I burst into flames; I think it was something about Dora the Explorer not answering me right away.¡± She took a few steps back and sat down on a chair. Sahara noticed it wasn¡¯t just her face that was burned. Oma¡¯s black sleeves came a little short, revealing a burn on her arm. She quickly noticed Sahara staring and covered it up.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°I prefer not to talk about my powers,¡± mumbled Oma. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. But I don¡¯t understand how Dian¡¯s powers overrode the bracelet. Its impossible that she¡¯s that powerful and the bracelets are supposed to stop this from happening.¡± said Sahara. Garnet, Oma and Amethyst game each other uneasy looks.


    ¡°What?¡± asked Sahara her eyes flashing with anger.


    ¡°You know how Oma works at the library,¡± started Garnet. ¡°Well, she¡¯s been tapping into our bracelets in her free time. Phila¡¯s and your bracelets are deactivated, but Ella¡¯s is almost done. But we¡¯re not the only people with deactivated bracelets. Oma was friends with Chad, once¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you guys have any idea how dangerous this is?¡± said Terrence outraged. ¡°We have the bracelets for a reason! Sahara could have died!¡±


    ¡°We have a reason too, just hear us out,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°We¡¯ve been resisting the school. They shouldn¡¯t control us.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± said Ella. ¡°I haven¡¯t actually tried recently, but I believe you when you say my bracelet is almost broken.¡±


    ¡°Broken only because you made them this way,¡± said Sahara.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think we deserve to have our full powers?¡± asked Garnet. ¡°I mean, I get of having to wear my bracelet because I need to be able to help people. But don¡¯t you think we should be able to live normally?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, normally? We¡¯re freaks,¡± said Sahara ¡°They¡¯re to help us. And what resistance were you talking about anyways?¡±


    ¡°A resistance formed by us,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°Oma, Dian and Chad started it when they were 7. But then the next year Chad got moved to the Psychic section of the building so they lost contact with him. Eventually I came and joined. Garnet¡¯s been in since last year, and we were hoping you would join us also.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me,¡± said Terrence. Sahara sat silently in thought. Ella screamed as a tail brushed her hand. Oma rushed over.


    ¡°Stop it, you¡¯re going to hurt him,¡± said Oma, picking up the bearded dragon Ella had flicked to the floor. Everyone broke the hostility and looked at her.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s just Fireball,¡± said Oma as Fireball spit a little flame to the floor. ¡°He¡¯s mostly harmless.¡±


    ¡°Wait, animals have powers too? I¡¯m so confused,¡± said Sahara. ¡°And mostly harmless?¡±


    ¡°He was my childhood pet, altered by my parents. They sent him here a couple days after they sent me here,¡± said Oma, stroking Fireball¡¯s back. ¡°Sach hates him.¡±


    ¡°Is Fireball part of your resistance?¡± asked Terrence. Oma was blinking in some sort of code with Fireball.


    ¡°No, but he knows where Dian went,¡± said Oma, putting Fireball on the floor and following him. ¡°I sent him out as soon as I heard the news.¡±


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s follow her,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°Fireball is never wrong. Animal instinct is extremely powerful.¡± Fireball lead the group down the hallway, and past Sach, who spit at him, and all the way down to Airlock 7.


    ¡°It¡¯s been welded shut!¡± said Amethyst. ¡°It¡¯s a mixed compound that has a relatively high melting point... I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m going to be able to melt it.¡± Suddenly, metal bars popped up around them as they crumpled to the ground. An electric charge went through the cage, causing them to fall.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± asked Sahara, struggling to sit up.


    ¡°Allow me to explain,¡± said Professor Kali, walking to the cage with Madame Myalo. ¡°I overheard you talking about how you hacked your bracelets. I was going to go get Madame Myalo, but I knew there was a chance your entire group would be gone. So I put Dian¡¯s hair in the other room so your lizard would lead you here.¡± Madame Myalo walked up and down, looking at the students.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you would choose to do something like this. To break your bracelets? Shame on you,¡± said Madame Myalo, zapping Amethyst with a taser for trying to melt the bars. ¡°And Oma, we have always been here for you. This has been your home since you were a little girl. Why do you defy us?¡± Oma looked down at the ground.


    ¡°Put them in the cellars. I¡¯ll do a thorough interrogation tomorrow.¡±

 Taken

    ¡°Let us out!¡± yelled Terrance as he banged on the door. He, Sahara, Amethyst, and Phila were crowded into a cell in the depths of the Academy. Ella, Garnet, Oma and Fireball were in the other cell. They was specially designed so no one could use their powers in it. Unfortunately for Phila, this meant she was reverted.


    ¡°Would you stop yelling? You¡¯ve been at this for hours,¡± grumbled Sahara.


    ¡°Shh,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°I hear something.¡± Sahara waited while Amethyst listened.


    ¡°They¡¯re going to interrogate us, then wipe our memories,¡± said Amethyst, plopping down on the ground.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°It¡¯s not over yet! How about we just tell our cellmates about the resistance?¡± said Ella. ¡°I don¡¯t think they have the power to wipe our entire memories. My father only would wipe a couple hours, or a memory of something.¡±


    ¡°Phila knows about the resistance,¡± said Garnet. ¡°But whether she will tell us or not depends on her. Oma, teach Ella how to disable the bracelets. And then you go first to get interrogated. When you come back, Ella, reteach Oma how to disable them.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Oma. Madame Myalo walked in.


    ¡°Who shall be first?¡± she asked, slyly. Oma looked worriedly at Sahara. She had not finished telling Ella.


    ¡°I volunteer,¡± said Sahara as Madame Myalo took her from her cell. Sahara waved to the rest as they took her away.

 Chads Words Were Useful For Once?

    ¡°I can read your mind, so there¡¯s nothing you can hide from me,¡± said Madame Myalo. ¡°This won¡¯t hurt at all, so just stay relaxed.¡± Sahara nodded and closed her eyes. Images of her playing with Ella as a toddler flashed in front of her, and soon Phila joined the memories. There was always a faceless person taking care of her, which Sahara assumed was her father. Sahara watched as she and her sisters aged, until they were finally at the school. Images of Dian introducing them to Oma and the Divas swirled around her mind, and soon the rest of the group was introduced. Suddenly, she saw Chad. You¡¯ll need to work on your forcefields if you want to stop me.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Sahara tried with all her might to force a mental forcefield around her as Madame Myalo slumped backwards. The memories stopped flowing.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened there,¡± said Madame Myalo, dazed. ¡°Please, relax and let me sift through your memories.¡± Sahara once again placed a mental block over herself as Madame Myalo grew frustrated.


    ¡°Kali, take this one back to the cell,¡± she told Professor Kali. ¡°She doesn¡¯t have any useful information. But first wipe her memory of her little resistance group.¡±

 Nadia to the Rescue

    ¡°Shut up, Ella, you¡¯re going to give us away,¡± said Nadia, putting her hands over Ella¡¯s mouth. She had been in class at the time they were taken, and found out where they were from Oma¡¯s release of Fireball.


    ¡°I have the keys right here,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll free you.¡± Nadia put the keys in the lock and the door opened. She opened the other cell door.


    ¡°They¡¯ll just take us back again once they find us,¡± grumbled Terrence. Phila took human form. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Who says they¡¯re going to find us?¡± Phila morphed her hand into a knife and sliced everyone¡¯s bracelets off. ¡°Now we¡¯re under the radar.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we wait for Sahara?¡± asked Oma.


    ¡°No time. We have to go now,¡± said Nadia.


    ¡°Go where?¡± asked Garnet. ¡°There¡¯s no place to go.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving the school,¡± said Nadia. ¡°I already have a plan.¡±

 Phila Gets the Good Part of the Plan

    ¡°If they ever find us, we¡¯re surely dead,¡± said Phila, taking the form of Mrs. Osteler. She walked up to the man running the magical items safe.


    ¡°Excuse me, I need to borrow several items for demonstrational purposes in my class,¡± said Phila. The man raised an eyebrow. Terrence blinked out of view and stepped behind the man.


    ¡°Yes, I teach a class on how Empowered Items are used,¡± said Phila. ¡°And I need to use some for my class.¡±


    ¡°What is your authorization code?¡± said the man. Terrence peered from behind the desk and looked at all the passcodes written down.


    ¡°Excuse me? Why do you want my authorization code? You are probably going to use it to do something bad and get away with it,¡± yelled Phila.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t let you use any items without your code,¡± said the man.


    ¡°The objects I need aren¡¯t life threatening,¡± said Phila. ¡°I just need the floating wagon.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t need authorization for that object,¡± said the man. ¡°Here, let me get it for you.¡± The man opened the safe and pulled out a giant wagon. Terrence quickly snatched a whole bunch of invisibility hats and other magical items before slinking off.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Have fun in class!¡± he told Phila.


    ¡°Oh, I will,¡± she replied as she carried the wagon to the front entrance to meet the rest of them. Suddenly, another teacher approached Phila.


    ¡°Oh Margaret, there¡¯s another student missing. Did you interview your set of students yet?¡± asked the other teacher.


    ¡°Um, yes,¡± she told him.


    ¡°Did you figure out the murderer?¡± the teacher asked.


    ¡°It was that psychic boy Chad,¡± said Phila, improvising on the spot. ¡°He killed them.¡± The teacher walked away.


    ¡°He will be taken care of,¡± said the teacher sullenly. Everyone looked at Phila.


    ¡°I had to improvise. Gosh!¡± said Phila. ¡°Hide.¡± Everyone put their invisibility item that Terrence had stolen on as Frida and Zura passed them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Zura. ¡°Who is killing our group?¡±


    ¡°A rather unfortunate accident it was,¡± said Friday slyly. ¡°At least someone else took out Dian for us¡­¡±


    ¡°Someone else? You didn¡¯t-¡± started Zura as Frida stabbed her with an icicle in the head. She put on another coat of lipstick and licked her lips. She vanished into thin air. As she grabbed the body of Zura, it disappeared as well.


    ¡°Terrence,¡± whispered Nadia. ¡°You can see invisibility. Follow them.¡±


    ¡°I thought we were getting out of here,¡± whispered Oma.


    ¡°Not without Dian,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Phila, you and Oma place all the objects we need outside, and hide them. Terrence is following Frida, and the rest of us need to go get Sahara.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Phila remembering when she dumped pudding on Frida¡¯s head. ¡°I always get the dumb job.¡±

 Sahara Did What Now?

    As the group arrived at the prison, Nadia devised a plan.


    ¡°So, Amethyst will melt the bars from the outside if Sahara is still in a cage,¡± said Nadia. ¡°Now we brought an extra item for her, we have to make sure she gets it.¡± Amethyst melted the door leading to the prison.


    ¡°Sahara!¡± cried out Ella, rushing over to meet Sahara. She didn¡¯t turn around.


    ¡°Sahara, it¡¯s me, Ella,¡± said Ella, grabbing Sahara¡¯s shoulder. Sahara spun around and shot Ella backwards with a force field.


    ¡°Well done, darling,¡± said Madame Myalo. ¡°The bad people aren¡¯t going to hurt you.¡± Sahara smiled. She had done well.


    ¡°Sahara! Don¡¯t listen to her,¡± said Nadia. Madame Myalo walked over towards them.


    ¡°Hm, attempting to break out of the school, that wouldn¡¯t be good. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to have to lock you up for that,¡± said Madame Myalo. ¡°Right,darling?¡± Sahara didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°Darling?¡± asked Madame Myalo. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Sahara smiled.


    ¡°You may be the most controlled person in the school,¡± started Sahara. ¡°But every power has its weaknesses. And yours is what you don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Madame Myalo.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to. You lacked partial knowledge of my powers,¡± said Sahara. ¡°And forcefields beat mind reading.¡± Sahara stabbed Madame Myalo in the back twice before she crumpled over. Amethyst ran over and melted Madame¡¯s bracelet, which started to beep because of ¡°lost contact¡±.


    ¡°Phew, I¡¯ve had a mental block on for three hours! Do you know how tiring that is?¡± asked Sahara. Everyone looked at her.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You just killed the headmistress,¡± said Garnet. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you expect us to be surprised?¡±


    Sahara paused. ¡°Because¡­ I¡¯m.... Wait. I killed the headmistress! I killed the headmistress! I¡¯m a murderer! AAAHHH!¡±


    Ella ran over and clamped a hand over Sahara¡¯s mouth. ¡°Shh¡­ you¡¯ll get us noticed!¡±


    Sahara¡¯s muffled cries were heard as the girls dragged her out into the hallway. Her eyes teared up, but after five minutes, she gave up fighting Garnet and Nadia¡¯s grip. The girl slumped weakly like a ragdoll, silently crying. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    As they ran outside, Phila waved them over. ¡°Oma and I are ready, what¡¯s wrong with Sahara?¡±


    The girl cried out loudly, ¡°I¡¯m a killer!¡± and continued bawling.


    Amethyst pursed her lips. ¡°It¡¯s a long story.¡±


    Suddenly, Ella jerked her head up. ¡°Wait, where¡¯s Haze? I can¡¯t leave without him!¡±


    Oma shook her head. ¡°No, you¡¯ll only get him in trouble or get caught along the way!¡±


    Garnet looked sideways. ¡°So, you forgive us for giving him a love potion to love you?¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Ella paused. ¡°That isn¡¯t natural? He doesn¡¯t really love me?¡±


    Amethyst shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s artificial. However--¡±


    Ella started to cry. ¡°No, why? Why doesn¡¯t anyone love me?¡±


    ¡°Ella--¡±


    Phila put an arm around Ella. ¡°I love you, you¡¯re my sister.¡±


    ¡°Ella!¡±


    Sahara continued to cry.


    ¡°ELLA!¡± Everyone grew silent. ¡°Please listen. That doesn¡¯t mean he doesn¡¯t love you. Every day, I gave him less and less potion, or a weaker version. Except apparently for Phila it doesn¡¯t matter how much of the potion she drinks. But anyways, at this point, some of what exists is real; it must be. Scientifically, his brain isn¡¯t producing that many artificial hormones as quickly as we see--¡±


    Ella looked at Amethyst, tears streaking down her face. ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°How much what?¡±


    ¡°How much is real?¡± Her bottom lip quivered.


    Amethyst looked off into the distance. ¡°By now, taking into account the gestures and actions of Haze, I¡¯d say¡­ 82.24% is really emotional attraction.¡±


    Ella wiped her tears away and paused. ¡°Although I am sad it¡¯s not true love, that is enough for me.¡±


    Phila shrugged. ¡°Well, considering I love you about 50% of the time, that¡¯s pretty good.¡±


    Sahara let out a sob. Garnet lifted her hand off Sahara¡¯s mouth, ungagging her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Sahara sat up. ¡°Terrence¡­ why is he taking so long? Maybe we should help him?¡±


    Ella wiped the last of the tears off her face. ¡°I¡¯ll go check-- I can fly quickly.¡±


    Garnet shook her head. ¡°You¡¯ll be seen!¡±


    Oma grinned. ¡°You forgot you left us with all the power items Terrence stole¡± She tossed Ella the hat and Fireball.


    Phila stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll go, too. I¡¯ll morph into a fly and stay on Ella¡¯s back, and if needed, I¡¯ll morph into the surrounding objects to blend in.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going, you might be gone for a while. I¡¯ve been wanting to study a sample of your, umm, I believe the correct term is ¡®goo¡¯. Would you mind giving a sample?¡± asked Amethyst. Phila sighed as she reverted part of her arm into a beaker.


    ¡°I want it back later,¡± she said, glaring at Amethyst. ¡°But now I¡¯m going to find Terrence.¡±


    Sahara looked up. ¡°You¡¯d do that? For me and Terrence, risk being caught?¡±


    Phila started saying, ¡°Well, I mean, they won¡¯t see us--¡±


    Ella interrupted her. ¡°Yes. We would. Because no matter what you¡¯ve done, we are family, and nothing will ever break us.¡±


    Phila¡¯s hair turned purple. ¡°Nothing.¡±


    Sahara smiled. ¡°Thanks, guys. Now, hurry up

 Fireball

    ¡°Okay, I think I know where Terrence went,¡± said Phila to Ella. ¡°Probably Airlock 7.¡± Ella slowed down and crouched behind a wall.


    ¡°Yeah, that would make sense,¡± said Ella. ¡°Let¡¯s release Fireball just to be sure.¡± Ella put Fireball down on the ground, who grunted and snorted smoke out of his nostrils.


    ¡°Find Terrence,¡± said Phila. Fireball trotted off, sniffing the air.Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Okay, so when we do find Frida? I think I should pretend to be Rece? She¡¯s the only one left of the Divas that isn¡¯t Frida,¡± said Phila.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine. Then she¡¯ll be about to kill you when I pop in and shoot her with a taser,¡± said Ella, pulling out a taser.


    ¡°How did¡­¡±started Phila. ¡°Nevermind. So then we ask Frida where we can find Dian, and then get both and leave.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± said Ella. ¡°Fireball!¡± Ella bent down to pick Fireball up when he was suddenly pulled away and dangling from midair.


    ¡°Going somewhere?¡± asked a familiar voice.

 Waiting

    ¡°Why are they taking so long?¡± said Sahara, pacing back and forth. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve only been out here for 10 minutes,¡± said Garnet.


    ¡°But it feels so much longer!¡± Sahara plopped down on the ground and picked up one of the invisibility hats.


    ¡°I wonder what would happen if I wore this when I became invisible?¡± she asked as she put the hat on. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Whoa Sahara, you¡¯re transparent!¡± said Nadia. She shot a water droplet at Sahara, which went right through her. ¡°You¡¯re literally transparent!¡± Sahara tried to test this by waving her hand through Nadia, but ended up hitting her instead.


    ¡°Maybe its just things that touch you,¡± said Nadia, putting her hand on Sahara¡¯s shoulder. ¡°No, possibly just powers.¡±


    ¡°Hey guys, come over here and look at Phila¡¯s sample,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°It¡¯s growing.¡±

 Chad is So Confusing

    ¡°Chad,¡± hissed Phila as Chad took his invisibility hat off. Chad smiled at her.


    ¡°I thought I accused you of murder!¡± she told him. Chad¡¯s face darkened.


    ¡°Look, I know we went through a rough breakup, but accusing someone of murder is crazy!¡± said Chad. ¡°I was escaping one of those crazy prison guards who accused me of killing Madame Myalo or something insane like that, and saw the item vault was open. So I stole a hat and found this lizard to stalk.¡±


    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t excuse what you did to me,¡± said Phila.


    ¡°You mean what Frida did to you? You never let me explain. Psychics usually eat in the different lunchroom so we don¡¯t get overwhelmed. There were so many people thinking that I got sick and had to leave. Frida found me and brought me to go sit down in Airlock 7. And as soon as you came in, she started making out with me. I was so weak, I could¡¯t resist,¡± said Chad. ¡°I hoped you would forgive me, but now we need to stop Frida.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Dude! Can you at least give us the lizard back?¡± said Ella. ¡°He¡¯s been dangling by his tail for the past five minutes!¡± Chad gave Fireball back to Ella.


    ¡°We need to go get Terrence. But I don¡¯t think Dian is in the same place,¡± said Phila. ¡°When we overheard Frida talking, she mentioned someone else got rid of Dian.¡± Chad suddenly looked shady.


    ¡°Oh about that,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s alive and we have her gagged in my dorm closet.¡±


    ¡°We?¡± asked Ella. ¡°There¡¯s someone else involved in this?¡±

 Reincarnation?

    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Amethyst, opening one of the forbidden books Oma had snatched from the library. She handed Nadia and Sahara two of the other books as she rapidly flipped through the pages.


    ¡°This is all so interesting,¡± said Sahara. ¡°Who knew there was all this information on shifters!¡±


    ¡°I found something,¡± said Nadia, holding her book up to Amethyst. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this helps or not, but shifters have no set gender. Phila only assumes female form because she wants to.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°That¡¯s peculiar,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°But keep searching.¡± They flipped through their books some more until Amethyst found what she was looking for.


    ¡°Okay we split Phila so there¡¯s a .01% chance it will produce another Phila,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°Depending on how we keep the conditions of it, we could potentially make another Phila.¡±

 The Last of the Divas

    ¡°Not you,¡± groaned Ella as another figure appeared.


    ¡°I remember when you had a crush on me,¡± said Hiro.


    ¡°For like, two seconds!¡±


    ¡°Hiro, can you bring us Dian?¡± asked Phila.


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll meet you in the front of the building with her. I hope the wagon can all support us,¡± said Hiro.


    ¡°How?¡± asked Ella. ¡°Chad, you read my mind and found out our plan, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and while Hiro is getting Dian, we have a Diva to slay,¡± said Chad. They were completely silent all the way to the airlocks. Phila tried to make eye contact with Chad, but he wouldn¡¯t look at her. Sighing, she gave up.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Okay, they¡¯re on the other side,¡± said Chad, looking at the door with broken welding.


    ¡°Even I could have told you that,¡± said Ella, looking where the welding had once been. She slowly creaked the door open as Phila took the form of Rece.


    ¡°How nice of you to join us!¡± said Frida, sealing the door behind them. ¡°Let¡¯s have a tea party!¡± Terrence was tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. In front of him was a teapot.


    ¡°You have got to be kidding me,¡± said Phila.


    ¡°No, Rece, I¡¯m quite serious. You think you could rise above me, didn¡¯t you,¡± said Frida, pacing back and forth. ¡°Not today.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re going to throw a tea party? Big deal,¡± Phila huffed.


    ¡°Allow me to demonstrate,¡± said Frida. ¡°The teapot isn¡¯t actually filled with tea. It is filled with a special solution that is lethal to touch.¡±


    ¡°Good, because if you were going to tell me it was filled with tea I was going to ask if you were craz-¡± Frida poured the tea on Phila as she reverted.


    ¡°Phila!¡± yelled Ella as Phila¡¯s goo turned into a black charcoal like substance.


    ¡°Who wants to be next?¡± asked Frida with a devlish grin.

 Mini-Phila

    ¡°Mini-Phila is accelerating!¡± said Amethyst, looking back at the sample. They had dubbed it ¡®Mini-Phila¡¯ but decided against cloning her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll look back in the books,¡± said Sahara. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. It says in order to clone her we need to let her grow in a cool damp surface. And with Oma¡¯s fire so close to her, it¡¯s anything from cool and damp.¡±


    ¡°Yes, those are the conditions to clone, but reincarnation conditions are basically endless,¡± said Amethyst. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Reincarnation?¡± asked Nadia. ¡°But that only happens after someone dies.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the only explainable way that her cells are regenerating. As a clone, she could only get so much energy in one place, so there must be a complete lack of energy and movement on the other side, with the Phila we know.¡± Amethyst wrung her hands.


    Garnet looked up. ¡°What are you saying, Amethyst?¡±


    Amethyst looked up. ¡°I think Phila just died.¡±

 Oh No...

    ¡°But why do you kill your own group?¡± asked Ella, trying to buy time for Chad to read Frida¡¯s mind.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple. They were turning against me,¡± said Frida. ¡°I had already excluded so many useless members. I could tell they were plotting against me.¡±


    ¡°But they were your friends!¡± said Ella. ¡°Don¡¯t friends love one another?¡±


    ¡°Love is a lie,¡± cackled Frida. ¡°It manipulates people. Like you really thought Haze was in love with you. You should have known better than that. I dated him.¡± Ella shot her a nasty look.


    ¡°He is, too,¡± she said with some doubt.


    ¡°And I made Phila turn against Chad,¡± said Frida, smiling at Chad. ¡°I guess it was for the better anyways.¡± Frida stepped in Phila¡¯s ashes and rubbed her foot in it.


    ¡°NO ONE DISRESPECTS MY SISTER!¡± yelled Ella as she rushed towards Frida and picked her up, swooping into the air.


    ¡°Ahg, put me down!¡± Frida growled at Ella.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Ella as she dropped Frida into the spikes in the training room. Chad rushed over.


    ¡°She¡¯s still alive,¡± said Chad. ¡°I can still read her mind. What should we do with her?¡±


    Ella picked up the teapot and smashed it onto Frida¡¯s head.


    ¡°Jeez, you just killed her,¡± said Chad as Frida was burned alive. Terrence made some muffled sounds.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Oops, sorry Terrence, we need to free you,¡± said Ella. Fireball set the ropes on fire, and Terrence was released as they burned away.


    ¡°Frida is a psychopath!¡± exclaimed Terrence.


    ¡°Was,¡± corrected Chad. Ella looked down at the ground, and put Phila¡¯s ashes between her fingers. Her eyes watered up.


    ¡°Was,¡± she whispered. ¡°Oh no. I¡¯m just like Sahara. Oh, no!¡±


    Terrence hugged Ella to comfort her. ¡°Sh¡­ it¡¯s okay.¡± Blindly, she hugged him back and let him rock her back and forth, not caring how close they were. He remained visible.


    Chad ran out of the room. ¡°I don¡¯t want to get caught¡­¡± He looked back just before leaving. ¡°Phila¡­¡± He swallowed.


    Terrence whispered into Ella¡¯s ear as he held her close. She eventually stopped crying and looked up at Phila, not leaving Terrence¡¯s arms.


    He stood, helping Ella to her feet. He paused. ¡°Umm¡­ I know you¡¯re with Haze right now, but¡­¡±


    Ella¡¯s wings went back to their normal position. ¡°No, not naturally. Amethyst and Garnet told me. Honestly, I¡¯d rather be with someone who loves me naturally,¡± she looked down awkwardly. ¡°That is, if you do.¡±


    Terrence¡¯s words lifted her gaze. ¡°I do. And I¡¯m sorry--¡±


    Ella interrupted him. ¡°For what?¡± She hugged Terrence and whispered into his chest. ¡°There¡¯s no reason to be sorry for anything.¡±


    After a few quiet moments later, Terrence pulled away. ¡°Umm, we should probably write a letter explaining what happened to leave here?¡±


    Ella nodded. ¡°Good idea. But Phila and Frida dead¡­¡±


    Terrence sat down and started writing. ¡°Just don¡¯t think about it¡­ we¡¯ll get through this together.¡±


    Ella nodded and read over the letter. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± She picked up Frida¡¯s lipstick and put it on. She licked her lips and turned invisible, accompanied by Terrence.


    He pointed to the lipstick. ¡°Keep that.¡±


    She nodded as they left the school together.

 Back Together

    Back at the outpost outside the school, Mini-Phila was regrowing fast. Oma went outside to guard, but the others stayed behind to watch. As the test tube holding Phila¡¯s goo overflowed, a small explosion happened, making everyone look away. Suddenly, Phila¡¯s regular-size goo blob appeared, looking distinctly familiar. Sahara ran up to it. ¡°Phila? Come on, change shapes! Phila?¡±


    The only response was that the goo frosted over and froze into a solid mass. Amethyst cried out. ¡°Oh, shoot! The book said that a damp environment was necessary, and this was clearly wrong¡­ Oh, no!¡±


    Sahara picked up the block. ¡°Well melt her, come on!¡±


    Amethyst put her hands out. A blueish light shot out of them, making all of the frozen goo melt into its original form. As it poured out of Sahara¡¯s hands, the block transformed into a human girl. However, this was not a look Phila would normally wear. She had on a long ball gown, not unlike Amethyst¡¯s, and her hair was black and curly. Her skin flickered lightly.


    ¡°Guys! I died but, not really,¡± said Phila as she started pacing.


    ¡°PHILA!¡± screamed everyone as they enveloped her into a group hug.


    After the hug was over, Garnet stepped back. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Sahara ran outside. ¡°HEY OMA PHILA¡¯S BACK FROM THE DEAD!¡± She yelled.


    Oma came inside, muttering something about ¡°bipolarity¡± and ¡°afterkill¡±. She too hugged Phila, but then sat down to hear the story.


    Phila paused. ¡°Soooo, we went to airlock 7.¡± Phila went on explaining what happened. The girls were silent.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Terrence? And Ella?¡± asked Sahara. ¡°And why do you look like Rece?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I died, remember? But they¡¯re either in trouble and in airlock 7 ,or are perfectly fine and on their way here,¡± said Phila. ¡°And I¡¯m Rece because don¡¯t you remember how I always get the sucky part of the plan?¡±


    Amethyst snorted. ¡°Well, death didn¡¯t change you at all¡­¡±


    ¡°Obvi,¡± said Phila. ¡°What, you thought I was going to reincarnate as a different person?¡±


    ¡°Hey guys! Phila died!¡± said Chad running in and breaking down on the floor. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°How did you find us?¡± Accused Oma.


    ¡°Hey Chad, look who just returned from the dead!¡± said Garnet at the same time.


    Chad gasped. ¡°Phila? What? How?¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll explain later, with the help of Amethyst. But first, what happened to Ella and Terrence?¡±


    Sahara stood up. ¡°Are they-- are they okay?¡± Her voice broke.


    Chad nodded. ¡°They¡¯re fine. Ella killed Frida--¡±


    Garnet stood. ¡°Ella killed Frida?¡±


    Chad nodded as Oma said, ¡°That¡¯s my girl!¡±


    ¡°Oh my¡­.¡± said Sahara, dropping to the ground clutching her head. ¡°We¡¯ve become murderers,¡± she murmured in disbelief.


    ¡°So much death today,¡± observed Amethyst. ¡°But anyway, please continue.¡±


    Chad gulped. ¡°And, uhh, she started crying, and Terrence hugged and comforted her--¡±


    Sahara looked up. ¡°Wait, what? Terrence never touches anyone! You¡¯re kidding. He¡¯s got this weird problem¡­ Wait. No way. No way!¡±


    Garnet looked at her. ¡°What?¡±


    Chad avoided Phila¡¯s gaze. ¡°I think they¡¯re a couple now. But what would I know, right?¡±


    Sahara fell flat on her face and built a force field around herself. ¡°Don¡¯t, just leave me alone.¡±


    Phila noticed his second comment more. She quietly looked at him and put her hand on his. ¡°Plenty.¡±


    Chad cleared his throat as Amethyst sat down. ¡°Stop interrupting him and let Chad tell the story!¡±


    He looked at her. ¡°Oh! Well there¡¯s not much more to tell, I just kind of left before they could catch me. I figured you¡¯d want to know about Phila, and considering you just escaped confinement¡­ yeah.¡±


    All was quiet except for the quiet buzzing of Sahara¡¯s forcefield. Chad broke the silence. ¡°Well, how did Phila come back to life?¡±


    Amethyst stepped forward. ¡°So, since Phila¡¯s a shifter--¡±


    Phila stopped her. ¡°You know what? It doesn¡¯t matter. What matters now is that I¡¯m alive, because really here I¡¯m the most valuable person.¡± Everyone looked at her.


    Amethyst gasped. ¡°No! We need to fully figure out and explain why! This could revolutionize the Powerful world!¡±


    Chad looked at Phila. ¡°Hey Phila, can I talk to you outside for a minute?¡± He grasped her hand.


    When they went outside, he looked her in the eye. ¡°Look, I¡¯m really sorry again. It was all a misunderstanding.


    ¡°I understand. And honestly, after you came to help us¡­ I forgive you.¡±


    Chad looked at her from a different angle. ¡°Um, I understand this isn¡¯t easy, but will you accept my earlier offer? Or at least can we be friends?¡±


    ¡°Friends,¡± said Phila.


    ¡°But I thought-¡± started Chad


    ¡°Don¡¯t push your luck,¡± Phila winked at him and went to go join the rest of the group. ¡°Maybe later.¡±


    He smiled. ¡°I can live with that.¡± Chad stood looking out into the distance for a long time, both disappointed and happy at the same time.

 Well Thats the End of Haze I Guess

    Half an hour later, Chad noticed footprints appearing in the grass, side by side. As the footprints got closer, familiar voices became noticeable.


    ¡°So, what are you going to do about Haze?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to tell him the truth-- he¡¯ll probably be disgusted when he finds out about the potion.¡±


    ¡°Good idea, Ella.¡±


    Chad looked over. Ella? Ella and Terrence must have been returning. He shouted out to the girls. ¡°Hey guys, I think Terrence and Ella are here!¡±


    Phila and Sahara ran out immediately, followed by Garnet and Oma. Amethyst ran out last, holding a frothing potion. ¡°Ella, get over here so we can see you!¡± The footsteps came over to Amethyst, and the potion suddenly floated. A moment later, Ella appeared, followed reluctantly by Terrence.


    Sahara ran over and hugged them. Terrence wriggled out of her embrace immediately, but Ella remained, glad to see her sister.


    Amethyst nodded. ¡°Good, you¡¯re back. How was the potion? Did you feel any itching or abnormal hunger? Do you have a rash behind your left ear?¡±


    Ella¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡°Uhh, no¡­¡±


    Amethyst stepped forward. ¡°Terrence, check if she has a rash behind her left ear.¡± He shook his head. ¡°No? Good. I need to do a little bit of fiddling with the antidote, but otherwise¡­¡± She trailed off.


    ¡°Otherwise what?¡± asked Ella panicked.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be using this potion and antidote on our next adventure! I¡¯m sure that¡¯ll be soon, considering how many times we didn¡¯t die¡­¡±


    ¡°Another adventure?¡± yelled Sahara. ¡°Are you kidding me?¡±


    Amethyst grinned. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Why not? You¡¯re asking why not?¡± screamed Sahara as she stomped up to Amethyst. ¡°I killed the headmistress, I don¡¯t know who else I¡¯ll have to kill next.¡±


    Garnet came over. ¡°She¡¯s kidding. Ella, Terrence, we¡¯re glad you¡¯re back.¡±


    Terrence nodded. ¡°Likewise. I hate to be the one to say this, though, but¡­¡±


    Garnet interrupted him. ¡°We were so worried! Chad told us what happened, up to the part where he left¡­¡±


    Chad walked over. ¡°Yeah, they know about Phila.¡±


    Ella started crying again. ¡°She¡¯s dead. Sahara, our sister is dead.¡±


    Amethyst raised her eyebrows. ¡°You sure about that?¡±


    Ella looked up. ¡°What?¡±


    Phila walked over. ¡°Miss me?¡±


    Ella walked up to her. ¡°What? How? Wha--¡± She wiped a tear away.


    ¡°Ah, call off the funeral and the parties Ella, I know I¡¯m popular, but I¡¯m not dead yet,¡± said Phila. ¡°No, don¡¯t explain right now, Amethyst.¡±


    Terrence just stood there, shocked.


    ¡°Have faith, Terrence,¡± said Phila. ¡°The Phila is with you.¡±


    Ella hugged Phila. ¡°In all seriousness, I missed you.¡± She stepped back. ¡°Don¡¯t die again.¡±


    ¡°Aw, really? In the full 28 seconds I was dead, I didn¡¯t miss you at all. This means a lot to me,¡± said Phila.


    Terrence elbowed Phila. ¡°Shut up. We didn¡¯t know you were alive.¡±


    Chad smiled. ¡°So, what¡¯s death like?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for me to know, and you to eventually find out,¡± said Phila. ¡°But it¡¯s not like the rest of you can come back and tell each other.¡±


    The group¡¯s discussion continued as they went back into the wagon. The sun set by the time Garnet went outside to guard. For the first time that day, everything was peaceful.

 It Takes A Killer to Know a Killer

    A loud flapping of wings got everyone out of the wagon again. The group ran out to see Hiro carrying Dian, flying over gracefully. He put her down gently, and they walked over, hand in hand.


    ¡°Dian! I kind of forgot about you!¡± Phila ran over.


    ¡°Hiro?¡± Ella looked confused.


    ¡°What?¡± Sahara looked at them both. ¡°Are you together?¡±


    Hiro grinned. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re dating.¡± Dian giggled.


    ¡°You¡¯re dating your kidnapper?¡± Garnet asked Dian. ¡°I forgot to tell you that I asked Ryan, you know, the laser-eyed guy out. He said yes! But your love story¡¯s more interesting.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s actually really nice,¡± said Dian. ¡°He even dumped his current girlfriend for me. And the best part is, he really likes the short haircut he gave me.¡± Hiro came by and put his arm around Dian.


    ¡°You really get to know someone when they¡¯re locked in your closet for thirteen hours,¡± said Hiro. ¡°I know her entire life story, and more.¡± Dian giggled.


    ¡°Anyways, apparently Chad got mad that Phila rejected him again, so him and Hiro decided to kidnap me. And then they stuffed me in the closet. But then Hiro felt guilty about leaving me alone so he skipped classes and talked with me,¡± said Dian. ¡°And now we¡¯re together!¡±


    ¡°Well, it seems like everyone is getting together,¡± said Sahara, looking sullenly at the sky. Amethyst came and sat next to her.


    ¡°You know, boys aren¡¯t everything,¡± said Amethyst. ¡°And if it really bothers you, I could ask Phila to clone herself.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that. I thought we were all going to end up happy. But in the end, I¡¯m just hurting,¡± said Sahara. ¡°And I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°Is it the absence of someone that hurts you?¡± asked Amethyst.


    ¡°No, I feel like everyone I know is drifting away from me. Its like an absence of love,¡± whispered Sahara. Amethyst laughed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you see? You¡¯re just the opposite of unloved. You have 9 people here that love you!¡± said Amethyst. Fireball curled up in Sahara¡¯s lap.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°9 people and Fireball,¡± joked Amethyst. Sahara smiled.


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Sahara.


    ¡°And plus, I¡¯m betting none of these relationships are going to last long anyways,¡± joked Amethyst.


    Garnet came over. ¡°What¡¯d you say?¡±


    Amethyst laughed. ¡°Nothing! Nothing! Just comforting Miss Single here.¡±


    ¡°I almost thought you said the word comforting,¡± said Sahara, stroking the spikes on Fireball¡¯s back. He grunted and made steam come out of his nostrils.


    Ella suddenly became serious and went over to Sahara. ¡°Do you know why I¡¯m jealous of you?¡± she asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re jealous of me?¡± Sahara replied. ¡°You have my brother as a boyfriend.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it,¡± Ella responded. ¡°You got to kill Madame Myalo. You know what I would have given to kill that silly old witch? Just kidding, I¡¯m jealous of you because you don¡¯t need a boyfriend. For all my life, I¡¯ve felt the need to have a guy treat me like I¡¯m amazing and important. But you are amazing and important, and can be fantastic on you own, without a boyfriend. And someday, after you¡¯ve accomplished the impossible, you¡¯ll get more recognition and respect than I will ever have. So go out there and rock it!¡±


    ¡°Ella¡­ I never knew you felt that way,¡± Sahara replied, stunned.


    Ella smiled. ¡°I¡¯m not all feathers.¡±


    Amethyst pointed out. ¡°No, you¡¯re 10% feathers, at least if we¡¯re discussing by weight. It is more if you take volume into consideration¡­¡± She stopped when she noticed Garnet¡¯s glare.


    ¡°I guess it is true, I am pretty awesome. But my mom abandoned me, I got my memory wiped by my stepfather, my adopted sister died and rose from the dead, and my own brother found a girlfriend and moved on, who is also my adopted sister,¡± Sahara paused. ¡°Hmm. But anyways, clearly I haven''t had the chance to see my awesomeness. And Ella, having the ability to take someone¡¯s life doesn''t make me great; it only makes me weak because I abused my power. And for that, I can never forgive myself. And I will never let a boy come in between doing what is right and what I want.¡± said Sahara with self determination.


    Ella pouted. ¡°Yeah, killing Frida wasn¡¯t exactly pleasant.¡± She shuddered.


    ¡°So, how did you kill her?¡± asked Oma. Ella looked at Sahara.


    ¡°It takes a killer to know how to be a killer,¡± said Sahara, shuddering.


    The two girls shared knowing smiles.


    Ella looked up. ¡°Hey Phila, remember when you used me like a hang glider?¡±


    Phila laughed. ¡°Yeah, that totally failed.¡±


    ¡°Well, I think I¡¯m strong enough now to fly holding something, do you want to give it a try?¡±


    Phila stood. ¡°Oh, definitely.¡±


    ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± asked Dian, watching them take off.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just... see what happens,¡± said Sahara.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Garnet smiled.


    The sun set as the sisters flew into the horizon, seeking a place to finally rest.