Page 5 of Lucent Academy 2: Trinity Awakens
Finally, at the top of the tower, I stood once more in front of the heavy wooden door leading to the Principal's office. I stuck my hand out to knock uncertainly, and saw it stood slightly ajar, as if someone had hurried inside and had forgotten to close it all the way.
On the other side of the door, I could hear voices speaking. One belonged to Lord Principal Lucius. The other was a woman's voice, high-pitched in her distress. It didn't sound like Crystalline, the beautiful, enchanting frost Phoenix who was the Principal's mate. Having only met her a few times now, I probably could have been mistaken, but she had such a distinctive voice that it would have been very difficult to mistake her for someone else.
I didn't want to snoop. I was about to turn away and wait further down the corridor to give the people in the room some privacy when I was rooted in place, hearing my own name spoken.
"I demand that you give me another chance to choose a proper mate! This is unbelievable! That commoner, Leah Wood, got an Abyssal Dragon mate for Pete's sake!" I suddenly knew who that voice belonged to. Seraphina Ashworth. The Baron's daughter. We had practically grown up together since my father was the head gardener on her father's land. Until we both turned out to be Manaborn and came to Lucent Academy, I would've said Seraphina had no idea who I was. We'd been orbiting each other since birth, moving in very different circles, visible to each other but unknown.
After all her bragging about not settling for anything less than a Phoenix, she had ended up being bonded to an Imp. I had a moment of guilty satisfaction, hearing the undertone of envy in her voice. She'd been nothing but unpleasant to me and Amberboth since the moment we had set foot on the airship that had brought us here.
"I'm the daughter of a Baron! Whatever the magical responsibilities that come with bonding with a powerful mate, I can assure you, Leah Wood isn't up for the task."
Why was Seraphina speaking as if I had only one mate? Was she jealous of Vaerath only?
"Amber Cole, a blacksmith's daughter, has a Phoenix mate! Why did everyone get a powerful mate, but me? Is it some sort of conspiracy?"
"Miss Ashworth, please! I told you that the Summoning Ceremony is binding. It cannot be undone. It cannot be redone. You have cast your die, made your gamble when you didn't heed my warning."
Principle Lucius sounded angry. I could imagine him towering over Seraphina, looking down at her coldly. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to change places with her in that moment. Come to think of it, I hadn't wanted to change places with her even a week ago. Thinking of the groveling Imp dressed in the attire of a butler who had been summoned to be her lifelong companion, I suddenly felt a wave of pity for her.
"I warned you that the creatures from the Pacted Realms will not take kindly to anyone treating the Summoning Ceremony like a shopping expedition. Did you or did you not hear me make that warning, loud and clear?"
"Yes, but..." Seraphina squeaked. Gone was her usual self-confidence. She sounded like a wreck, all composure shattered.
"It is not up to you to decide what another student is capable of. That depends largely on the student herself. My job is tohelp the Manaborn left in my care hone their skills, push their boundaries, and find what they're capable of. I am the Principal of this school. Now, you will stop your sniveling, your petulant whining, and accept your mate for what he is. I suggest you see the good in the mate who has answered your call. He may not be a Diamond-Tier being, a platinum like you had obviously been hoping for, a gold or even a silver rank mate, but he has magical capabilities. He still has much to teach you. About the world. About yourself."
I heard Seraphina give one single, soon-stifled sob, and this time I didn't only pity her. My heart broke for her. She sounded so lost and hopeless. Despite everything, I wouldn't have wished that on anyone.
I heard movement inside the office, and then Principal Lucius spoke again. "You must accept it and find a way to make the most of it. It cannot be undone." His voice had gone softer, kinder. I thought he must have stepped away from behind his desk. Now I could imagine him placing his hand on Seraphina's shoulder. Not scolding her anymore, but trying to give a measure of comfort.
"To continue fighting against this is a waste of time you can spend better becoming stronger. We have enough enemies out there, in the Void, without fighting amongst ourselves."
I heard a chair scraping back across the floor. Someone was approaching. I jumped away from the door quickly. It flew open, and then I was staring into the wide, wild eyes of Seraphina, her face streaked with tears.
We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. I tried to compose my features, but what I'd heard must have been written all over my face. I saw her countenance lose even more of itscolor. It just drained out of her like a tightly-wrung dishcloth. I opened my mouth to say something, maybe to apologize for eavesdropping, though it hadn't been my intent. Before I could make my excuses, she pushed past me and hurried down the hallway and out of sight.
I looked guiltily back at Principal Lucius just beyond the doorway. He was standing in front of his desk beside the chair that Seraphina had vacated so abruptly moments before.
"Miss Wood, yes," he said, sounding flustered for the first time since I've met him. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Please," he gestured toward the empty chair.
I went inside and closed the door behind me, not wanting anyone to come along and hear what the Principal needed to tell me. Now that I had heard him defending my presence in the school, I no longer feared that he was going to tell me there had been some horrible mistake. Still, I was curious about what he wanted to discuss.
I didn't have to wait long. "I wanted to check in on you to see how you were doing this morning, after your period of isolation and rest. Because of the extraordinary turn of events your Summoning Ceremony had taken, there are some practicalities I need to discuss with you. The first few weeks after the summoning can be quite daunting. I remember my own, though it had of course been quite long ago. After the excitement dies down and reality starts seeping back in, it can seem unbelievable to have bonded with a powerful mate. You bonded with three, so I can only imagine what you must be feeling. I'm here to answer any questions if you have any."
He looked at me expectantly, and I was at a complete loss for words. Was I supposed to tell him about my dream the nightbefore? Trapped in fear, exhilaration, desire, and excitement, all those feelings had been at war within me just as my three mates had been warring for my attention.
I looked into his steady gaze, his face that still seemed as if it had been carved from stone, giving nothing of his inner thoughts away. No, I certainly could not speak to him openly about my lust, my sense of wonder whenever I thought of my three mates, and my fear that, soon enough, they would be left disappointed that they had bonded with someone like me.
"Um, well... I was just wondering what elemental magic you would have me focus on in the first few lessons? I understand that specific mates we bond with is indicative of the sort of elements our magical abilities will draw from and take shape in, but... Um..."
It was a good save, and the Principal nodded. He seemed to approve of my question.
"You bonded with three mates, so in theory, perhaps it means you have more options available to you. Each bonding gives the Manaborn two elemental affinities. What this could mean, if we are correct in our assumptions, is that you have an affinity with six different elements, where everyone else has only one or two. Looking at the mates you have bonded with, you should have an affinity with the following elements: Fire, Darkness, Nature, Life, Blood, and Mind." Principal Lucius must have seen the disbelief on my face because he gave an incredulous little chuckle.
"To tell you the truth, in a lot of ways, you've stumped us all. We won't know yet the true extent of what you are capable of until you have learned better control over your magic. I would have liked to test you to see if our theories about your affinities arecorrect, but given how little control you have as yet over your abilities, I think the only one available to you at the moment is fire, so that is the element we will focus on. In time, your abilities should become apparent, and then I hope that will give us some guidance on what we have to work on, what would be helpful in combat."
I nodded. What he said made sense, and I wondered again why I was so different and what it would mean in the future. I knew that my control was at a lower ranking, Iron, than my Mana capacity was. I would therefore have to work hard to gain more control.
"In the future, you will be forced to prioritize what to focus on as each new spell is more difficult to learn. For this term, I have paired you with an instructor who has an affinity for fire magic. He will be helping you hone your skills, teaching you how to draw on your Mana well to achieve the desired result."
