It had been a month and a half since Mina's arrival. The pyrokinetic was slowly getting used to living with her new found family. Family. Mina thought that it was a fitting word for these eight girls. They made her feel comfortable and were her pillar of support. In fact, they were each other's pillar of support. 

 

The pyrokinetic and cyrokinetic had started their training together on the second week and things went smoothly although they were a little gentle at the start. Now that they knew what they were each capable of, the fear of injuring one another was practically inexistent.

 

Mina and Sana were currently in the practice hall. It was Mina's turn to practice defence while Sana practiced her offence. Chaeyoung had nothing to do so she had asked if she could watch them from the observation room to which the pair agreed. 

 

There was a red and blue aura surrounding Mina and Sana respectively. 

 

The cyrokinetic made her first move, swiftly tossing an ice spear towards Mina who side stepped to dodge it. A blast of ice shards came hurling at Mina the moment she regained her balance and the fire user quickly curled her fist and crossed her arms in front of her, summoning a wall of flames to melt the ice shards. Chaeyoung who was watching in the observation was completely amazed by how cool it looked. 

 

Sana threw two cross punches at Mina who deflected them but almost slipped when Sana formed a thin layer of ice under Mina’s feet, laughing as the girl flailed her arms to regain her balance.

 

The pair went at each other for almost an hour, never once pausing to catch their breath or take a short break. The room was humid from all the ice which was sublimated into water vapour by the fervent heat. 

 

When they decided to end their session for the day, they joined Chaeyoung in the observation room who grinned at them before flipping the switch and turning the knob to set the vents to full power.

 

'Nice work you two! That was awesome!' Chaeyoung exclaimed at the pair. 

 

'Haha thank you.' Mina smiled.

 

'Got any injuries? Not that I want any of you to get hurt but since I'm here I thought I could fix you up if you were bruised.' 

 

'I think we're fine. Thanks Chaeng.' the black haired girl patted the younger girl on the shoulder. 

 

'Ah unnie.. You're all sticky..' 

 

'Heh sorry.' 

 

'We should shower.' Mina suggested. 

 

'Go along, I'll go down to see how the others are doing. See ya.' Chaeng waved and opened the door which revealed two girls who looked like they were about to enter.

 

'Oh hi unnie, Tzuyu.' Chaeyoung greeted before taking her leave. 

 

'Just on time, you guys are done. It's our turn now.' Momo said. 

 

'Ah you might want to wait a little for the vents to clear the air.' Mina said sheepishly.

 

'Oh that would be no problem at all.' Tzuyu said. 'If you would excuse us.' 

 

The youngest stepped out of the observation room and held both hands in front of her. 

 

'Watch.' Momo said and smiled.

 

The steam began to gather and form a ball of water in mid-air and they gravitated towards Tzuyu who came back into the room with a ball of water in her hand. 

 

'What shall I do with this?' Tzuyu asked to no one in particular.

 

'I'll take that.' Sana offered and reached out to touch the ball of liquid which immediately froze.

 

'I'll toss this into the garden for the plants.' the girl said. 

 

'Alright then. Let's go Momo unnie.' Tzuyu tugged at Momo who was still grinning at Mina and Sana. 

 

'See you guys at dinner.' Momo shouted as she was pulled out of the room. 

 

As the two Japanese girls climbed back up to the first floor, Mina suddenly laughed. 

 

'What's so funny?' Sana raised a questioning brow.

 

'It's just that ball of ice in your hand. A souvenir for today's training?' Mina sniggered and Sana scoffed. 

 

'Go shower or I'll melt this over your head.' Sana playfully threatened and Mina sprinted up the stairs, not before blowing a raspberry which made Sana lift the ball of ice to make it seem like she was going to lob it at the younger. 

 

 

---

 

Sana tossed the ball of ice into the air and moved it over a patch of flowers. She divided the ball into four parts and formed a fist with her hands, causing the chunk of ice to burst and drop over the flower patch. 

 

'Hope you didn't accidentally squish any insects in that flower patch.' Mina joked beside the taller girl. 

 

'Ugh.' 

 

They sat down on the bench nearby. 

 

'How do you like this place so far?' Sana asked.

 

'Hmm it's pretty good. It's kinda like my second family now. All of you.' Mina stretched her legs out and leaned into the bench, bumping the tips of her shoes against each other.

 

'Miss your parents?' Sana asked.

 

'Just a little. I do call them once in a while. The last time I called them they said that all was good and they told me to take care of myself.' the girl inhaled deeply. 'How about you? Do you miss your parents?' 

 

'Yea, I call my parents whenever they’re free, but it's been a long time since I’ve seen them in person.' 

 

'How long have you been here?' 

 

'About four years now. I entered the same time as Momo. Tzuyu, Dahyun and Chaeyoung arrived the same year but after us. Jihyo spent the longest here. About eleven years here. Fire is the most powerful physical affinity no doubt but telekinesis is highly sought for too. Especially someone with such extraordinary control. Which is why she joined this academy when she was just nine years old. She had always been a bright cookie so she joined even before any hellhounds could find her.' 

 

'Eleven years? That's a long time.' Mina said. Sana nodded and hummed. She was shocked by how long Jihyo had been here. Jihyo was the same age as her which meant that the girl had basically already spent half her life here.

 

'You guys never left this place?' 

 

'We do go back to visit our parents on special occasions like holidays, New Year’s, Christmas and stuff. We go on road trips sometimes too. We also have missions but there hadn't been one in a long time. Maybe.. Six months? Usually there would be a small one every month so half a year without an incident is pretty long.'

 

'Missions?' 

 

'Yeah. It's usually when there are a bunch of creatures that attack other mutants. Some of us get dispatched to save them and gain some battle experience. Jihyo has gone plenty of times as well as Jeongyeon and Nayeon. We go overseas too sometimes, to meet with other mutants for something like a.. Partnership program if you can call it that.'

 

Mina nodded silently. 

 

'Mina?' a voice called from behind them. 

 

They turned around to see Jihyo, hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket.

 

'Mind if I join in?' she beamed as she approached.

 

'Sure.' Mina smiled. 

 

'How's her progress lately?' Jihyo asked, turning to Sana.

 

'She's good. The intensity of her flames is much stronger and her control over the element is pretty much perfect now.' 

 

'Good good. I think we can try out the next stage now.' 

 

'Next stage?' 

 

'Yes. Have you heard of blue flames before?' Jihyo smiled warmly.

 

'Oh yes. Purple flames and green flames too.' Mina replied.

 

'Do you know the difference between them?' 

 

Mina shook her head. 

 

‘They’re more powerful?’ Mina took a wild guess.

 

'Well, there are many variations of fire and there are many uses and colours. Blue flames are more intense than these red flames that you have almost mastered but they are harder to control. They are hotter and do more damage. Purple flames can be used to put people into a stasis like state, making them vulnerable to damage. However it's mostly used for dark arts and magic.' Jihyo explained and paused. 

 

'Woah.. Are there more?' 

 

'Yes. In fact, I have a book on the arts of fire manipulation. Would you like to read it?' 

 

'Oh yes please.' Mina's eyes lit up in delight. 

 

'Come, I'll find it for you.' Jihyo stood up and gestured for Mina to follow her.

 

'I'll return to my room. See you later.' Sana smiled and strolled off.

 

The duo walked to the main building and went into Jihyo's study. 

 

'Sit, I'll look for it.' Jihyo said and walked around the shelves. Mina and watched as the older girl walked over to the shelf by the window and ran her finger over the spines of the books before stopping at a book with a black cloth-like cover. She pulled it out and opened it to confirm before walking over to the couch.

 

'Here. Maybe you will have a better understanding of your affinity with this. It also contains all of the notable fire users in the past as well as the first fire users which were of course, the legendary dragons.' 

 

'Thanks so much Jihyo!' Mina beamed. 

 

'So the next level of fire is..' Mina asked as she read the content page of the book. 

 

'Blue fire. There are many variations of flame manipulation that exist but only the art of controlling 3 to 4 of them are known as said in the book. Some are either too dangerous or unobtainable like the rainbow flame. It is said that only dragons can produce rainbow flames.' 

 

'So I guess blue fire is my next step forward?' Mina asked as she looked at the page on blue pyrokinesis.

 

'Yes. Seeing that you have mastered ordinary fire, it should be safe enough for you to start with blue fire. Does the book give any tips or instructions on how to generate them?' Jihyo asked. 

 

Mina skimmed through the page which tells the history of how the first blue flame was generated and its uses but there wasn't anything on how to obtain it except for a short sentence.

 

'By channelling your inner chi.' Mina read. 

 

'Then that's all you have to do.' 

 

'But how do I know that I'm doing it right?'

 

'If you feel tingling, vibrating and heat of course. Do you want to give it a try?' Jihyo asked. 

 

'Maybe tomorrow after I read up this book a little.' 

 

'No problem.' Jihyo smiled. 

 

'I'll go back to my room now. Thanks again Jihyo.' Mina chirped and bowed before leaving. 

 

 

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

 

 

'Hey.' Mina smiled and sat down beside Sana who scooted over to give the girl more space.

 

'Hey.' Sana whispered. 

 

'You look like a kid that just got a new book to read.' Sana giggled and Mina pushed her shoulder. 

 

'Oh please Sa-dang.' 

 

'Alright alright. What are you reading now?' Sana asked and rested her head in the crook of Mina's neck, black hair slightly tickling the younger girl.

 

'I'm going to read up on the history of the dragons.' Mina said, eyes glued to the book.

 

'Hmm.. This one looks cool. It's like you.' Sana pointed at the red dragon. 

 

'Then this one must be you. Blue like frost.' Mina pointed at the blue dragon. 

 

'Then we make a good pair like them.' Sana said pointing at the intertwined dragons on the next page, flames combined to form a fiery rainbow tornado. 

 

'We do.' Mina smiled and turned to Sana, who raised her head slightly to look at Mina. 

 

 

 ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

 

The pyrokinetic stepped out into the centre of the room and looked at the glass window. 

 

'Right, just.. try meditating. Imagine.. Your body heating up and bring that heat to your hand.' Jihyo advised over the speaker.

 

Mina felt a little awkward. She didn't know if she should sit or stand to do it but she opted to stand. Closing her eyes, she silence of the room helped her concentrate better. Mina decided to use the breathing techniques which she learnt from the books. 

 

'Fire comes from the breath, not muscles.' Mina whispered to herself and inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled through . She found the chi within and all she needed to do was channel it to her hands to generate the blue flames. Eyes shut, she extended her hand, palm facing upwards and frowned, trying to summon flames. 

 

The tips of her fingers tingled and she could feel it get hotter but there wasn't any fire. 

 

'I can't. It's kinda.. Stuck.' Mina said and dropped her hand down to her side. 

 

'Hmm.. Let's try another method. I'll guide you through so listen to my voice.' Jihyo said. 

 

'There's always a misconception on fire being an element full of anger and hatred. That's not true but could we give that a try?' Jihyo said and Mina nodded.

 

'How?' 

 

'Maybe I could.. Give you some memories and images to get you riled up.' 

 

'Sounds like a plan.. Alright. 

 

'Now. Close your eyes.' Jihyo instructed. Mina took a deep breath and spread her feet shoulder width apart for more balance and closed her eyes. 

 

'Right. This is a scene from a concentration camp. If you feel any discomfort or find the images disturbing, please, let me know and I’ll stop.' Jihyo said in Mina's mind. The girl nodded and mentally prepared herself. 

 

It was like playing a video game. 

 

At first it was a hazy dark cloud and everything was unfocused. Mina blinked and her surroundings became sharper. She realized she was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall of her building. There were people walking around in blue and white striped shirts and pants. No one seemed to pay any attention to her, almost as if she wasn't there at all. Technically she wasn't but still..

 

She used the wall as support to pull herself up from the ground and dusted her pants. She was still in the clothes she was wearing at the practice hall. 

 

'You are here as a spectator. No one can see, hear or feel your presence so don't worry about getting caught. When you are ready, I will begin.' 

 

'How bad is it?' Mina asked, feeling slightly worried.

 

'Personally I find it to be more tragic rather than scary. Today there will be one where a family member is forced to watch the execution of a loved one. You can just put yourself in his shoes. The unjust of things and the anguish he felt.' 

 

Mina gulped. She took a deep breath and collected her thoughts. 

 

'I'm ready.' 

 

There was another five seconds for her to process things before she heard the sound of a bloodcurdling scream and cries. She turned towards the wailing and saw a woman being dragged by two stocky looking men in army uniform. There were several others that were behind but they seemed to have accepted fate as they just let themselves get dragged along. Mina noticed that they were so thin that you could see their bones and she had no idea how the struggling woman hadn't broken anything from all that wrenching and struggling.

 

Mina knew she was supposed to follow and so she did. Every step she took behind them felt heavy as she knew what was going to come. The skies were grey with storm clouds, reflecting the sombre mood. She was going to watch someone die. In front of her eyes. It hadn't even happened yet but she already felt the disgust and fear wrenching in her gut. 

 

The army personnel shoved them in front of a wall which was between two buildings and there were square windows on the buildings. It was even worst knowing that the people in them could see and hear the sounds of crying, screaming and the gunshots every time it happened. The guards kicked them in the back of the knee and they dropped to the ground. 

 

Because they were talking in German, Mina couldn't understand but she didn’t need to, she could feel the situation.

 

The guards said something to the kneeling men and women as he raised his rifle. There were anguished cries coming from another man who was being held back by another two guards who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. 

 

The kneeling figures kept quiet and didn't move except for the one who had been struggling all the way here. His shoulders were slightly shaking from his muffled cries. The guard's mouth curved into the most monstrous and wretched smile Mina had ever seen and he took aim. His face lacked any empathy and remorse. Her vision turned white as soon as he pulled the trigger, the only thing that processed in her mind was the sound of the gunshot and the bodies dropping to the gravel floor shortly after.

 

The images were indeed just tragic and not as graphic as she thought it would be and the people weren't of anyone that Mina knew but to imagine that it was her loved ones being shot in front of her, how could she not lose her cool? The anger she felt on behalf of the innocent people boiled within her and the temperature of the room increased. Sana kept her eyes trained on Mina, anxious on what would happen.

 

The pyrokinetic had her hands balled up and her face was that of a pained expression. Suddenly, Mina's hands were on fire but it wasn’t the usual flames, it was blue. 

 

'Mina you're doing it!' Sana said over the speaker and Mina opened her eyes. The girl squinted and adjusted to the brightness of the room. She remembered what she was doing and why she was here. The vision had been so vivid it was as if she really was there. She looked at her balled up fists and was taken astonished by the sight.

 

'This is so cool!' Mina said and looked at her hand. She held the fire with both her hands and looked at it with pure amazement. She could feel her hands tingle and the chi coursing throughout her body and in her veins. Stronger than when she used the ordinary flames.

 

'Try some basic moves with that.' Jihyo prodded. She pulled the leaver and target boards dropped from the ceiling. 

 

Mina turned around and shot them with the flame. She knew they would be hard to control and more powerful than ordinary flames but she never really realized how powerful they were until the wooden boards were incinerated to ashes. 

 

More boards sprang up from the floor and she used both hands to send a blast of blue flames. Mina couldn't fully control them yet so they went through the target boards and blasted straight at the walls behind them, causing the metal plates to heat up and glow red hot. 

 

'Mina can you control them?' Jihyo asked.

 

‘I don’t think so. It’s hard to control the intensity. Also for the record, I don’t think I should be sweating since I’m immune to heat.' Mina said, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. 'I don't usually sweat when I do this.' 

 

Before Jihyo could assure Mina that everything was alright, a flash of light washed through the hall and engulfed the place in blue flames. Nothing could be seen through the window except the blinding glow of the fire. Jihyo and Sana instinctively shielded their eyes from the brightness of the flames, opening them only after the brightness died down. Sana shot up from her seat.

 

The two squinted out of the window and saw a figure surrounded by a layer of blue flames. 

 

'Fire aura. Incredible.. I have never seen anything like this before.' she heard Jihyo mutter to herself. 

 

'Uh Jihyo is this supposed to happen?' Mina asked, looking down at herself. Her entire body was literally covered in flames but she wasn't burning. It was like a protective layer. It didn't touch her but she felt abnormally hot. 

 

'It's just like the normal aura you had but blue this time.' 

 

'Well.. It's really hot. Almost like I'm in an oven.' Mina said and shifted uncomfortably on the spot.

 

'Can you try to extinguish it?' 

 

Mina extended her arms to the side in an attempt to redirect the fire as she had always done but it didn't go away. She could feel the energy bubbling inside of her, threatening to explode. 

 

'Jihyo!' Mina said sounding a little more urgent.

 

'What do we do?' Sana asked. 'Will she get hurt?' 

 

'The flames won't hurt her but I don't know how to put it out.' Jihyo said honestly. 

 

'Should we call Tzuyu?' Sana asked.

 

Suddenly, flames began to sprout from under Mina’s shoes. She lifted one foot in the air and almost fell over when flames kicked out from her foot, pushing her backwards but instead of falling to the ground, she found herself floating.

 

'I'm.. Flying?' Mina asked, unsure and bewildered.

 

'Pyrokinetic flight.' Jihyo gasped.

 

Mina wobbled in the air trying to find her balance. The energy was a little lesser now although she still felt like a nuclear reactor on the verge of exploding.

 

'There is pyrokinetic surfing as well.' Jihyo pointed our but Sana nudged her. 

 

'It's too dangerous. She can't control it yet.' Sana reasoned.

 

'Let's leave that for another day. I don’t think I’m up for any of that right now. The heat is getting unbearable.' Mina dropped to the ground on her knees and used her hands to support her. The aura was getting brighter and the temperature was rising to dangerous levels.

 

Mina tried to roll around on the floor to extinguish it but it wasn’t working, she was just leaving a trail of fire wherever she rolled.

 

'She's going to get hurt!' Sana exclaimed and rushed to the door.

 

'Sana don't! You'll get burned if she loses control!' Jihyo shouted but it was too late, Sana was already out of the door. The heat smacked her in the face the moment she opened the door. 

 

Sana took a few cautious steps towards Mina whose fire didn't seem to be subsiding anytime soon. Then she pumped her legs and began running. She ran towards Mina and extended her hand, summoning a blast of cold air and blowing it at Mina. Mina couldn't feel it directly but she could feel that it was a little cooler than before. She looked up and saw her partner making a run for her. 

 

'Sana..' Mina whispered and stood on unsteady feet.

 

'I'm gonna burn up. I can feel it. I-I did this once before by accident with the normal flames but this.. This is worst. It feels like my insides are about to combust as well.' the girl said. 'Sana.. Help.' she pleaded. Sana looked at Mina who was really desperate and tried to decide which way she should handle it but she couldn’t waste time.

 

To hell with it, the cyrokinetic thought and lunged at Mina, making Jihyo's jaw drop.

 

Sana had covered herself in a layer of ice and wrapped her arms around Mina and the two stumbled backwards. The older girl decided to use flash freezing to control the temperature of Mina's body. Right now, the girl's skin felt like she had been sunbathing for hours.

 

Mina was leaning almost her entire body weight on Sana from the feeling of pins and needles in her legs.

 

Sana placed one of her hands on the girl's neck and the other under her shirt and on her stomach and began to lower the girl's core temperature by coating the skin with a layer of ice. The heat was so strong that Sana could feel her protective layer melting away.

 

'She's insane..' Jihyo mumbled as she watched on.

 

As crazy as it seemed, it seemed to be working as the fire began to burn out. Water dripped from their clothes from the melted ice, leaving the two girls standing in the middle of the room in each other's embrace.

 

 

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

 

 

'Mina? Are you alright?' Sana asked as she sat down beside Mina on the girl's bed after dinner. 

 

'I guess. Thanks back there. I probably would have combusted on the spot.' Mina smiled.

 

'No problem.' Sana smiled. 'I have a question.'

 

Mina hummed.

 

'What do you mean when you said that you burned up before?' the older girl asked.

 

'Well, it was way back when I was still learning to control my powers. I burned up and.. I burned a warehouse down to the grounds all by myself. No one got hurt but I was scared. Scared of myself. Scared of what I could do. I was only 15 at that time. I thought of trying out a new trick and tried to create a tornado but it didn't work. It got out of hand and my core temperature began to rise. Before I knew it I had caused a mini explosion. Fire burst in all directions and set the wooden beams ablaze.' Mina her lips and Sana patted the girl's thigh. 'It was like a scene from hell. Everywhere you looked there was fire. Fire on the walls, my hands, the little weeds on the floor. I panicked and I didn’t know that I could absorb the energy from the flames to extinguish them. To make things even worst I looked down at myself and I had an aura of fire. I have no recollection of how it got put out but I didn't use my powers for quite some time after that. I was scared. Not just of the destruction I could do but of myself as well.' 

 

'Oh Mina..' Sana whispered and turned to give Mina a hug, pulling the younger into her arms. She rested her chin on the top of Mina's head and Mina snuggled into her partner's chest. 

 

It was in Sana's arms that she felt the safest. With Sana around, she felt like there was no need to be worried about anything. The older girl's presence itself was enough to wash away any negative feelings Mina had. 

 

 

---

 

Mina started spending more time on training. Sometimes alone, sometimes with someone else. She had grew closer to the other girls so she learnt that affinities could work together to become more powerful. 

 

She would have target practice with Jihyo and Jeongyeon, who would send rock fragments, stones and any other random object sailing in Mina's direction for the girl to deflect or destroy. 

 

The pyrokinetic had recently begun training with Dahyun who taught her how to stabilize herself when flying with her element. 

 

'Don't flail your arms if you feel like you're gonna fall. That'll make things worse. If you're high enough, just let yourself fall freely and do a somersault so that your feet will point back to the ground, then you summon the fire.' Dahyun said. They always did their training outside since the practice hall was too small and would limit the amount of techniques they could practice. 

 

'How do I do that? What if I just fall and die?' Mina frowned. 

 

'Oh you won't. I'll catch you! Let me demonstrate for you then.' Dahyun grinned and shot up into the sky. She signalled for Mina to follow and the girl rolled her eyes but took off anyway. 

 

They were now about thirteen stories off the ground. The cold wind was blowing against their skin. Mina's shirt flapped against her body in the wind and her hair was being whipped around by the wind. 

 

It was quite a peaceful and serene sight if she wasn't about to learn some dangerous manoeuvre. She could see everything from up here; the entire mansion as well as the little buildings in the distance. People walking on the streets and cars driving by on the road far away. 

 

'Are you sure about this?' Mina asked, feeling a little nervous. A fall from this height guaranteed instant death.

 

‘Relax; I did this almost a hundred times already. Just pretend that you’re skydiving.' 

 

'Without a parachute.' Mina pointed out.

 

'Who needs parachutes when you got powers?' Dahyun laughed. 'Right, so let's say I got knocked backwards like this.' the girl said and leaned backwards as if she got hit by something. 

 

'If I flail my arms to balance myself.' she yelled over the wind as she swung her arms vigorously before flipping over and falling. Mina's heart almost stopped at the sight and she let out a relieved sigh when Dahyun recovered from the fall.

 

'I'll fall faster than when I don't flap my arms like a chicken.' Dahyun finished her sentence and repeated the same movement, only this time she let her arms go limp as she leaned back and almost instantly did a flip. 

 

'This way, you will recover from a attack faster than trying to balance and get hit once more. It also kinda surprises their enemies as you could do a flip and shoot them in the face with fire.' 

 

'So uh.. I'll just fall?' Mina looked down with uncertainty. She wasn't ready to die just yet. Not while learning how to fly. How ridiculous would that be if Jihyo had to call her parents after she died saying, 'It is unfortunate that I have to tell you your daughter had died learning to fly'. 

 

Absolutely no honour in that as compared to getting killed while fighting for something more worthy of sacrificing her life.

 

'I'll catch you if you can't do it. I'll go with you don't worry.' 

 

'If I die I'll make sure I haunt you.' Mina threatened but Dahyun only smiled. 

 

'Yea yea, that was a pretty lame threat. By the way, you have around.. Fifteen seconds to recover from the fall. Sixteen if you want to kiss the ground so.. Good luck.' Dahyun sniggered and shoved Mina backwards by the shoulders before she could ask any more questions.

 

'I HATE YOU KIM DAHYUN!' the pyrokinetic screamed as she tipped backwards, losing her balance and began to fall. 

 

Sana had been looking for her partner but Mina seemed to have disappeared. Or so she thought. Just as Mina began to fall, Sana stepped out of the back door and saw two figures falling out of the sky. One was clearly Dahyun being the only one that is able to fly so high and the other was clearly her training partner. 

 

'What on earth?!' Sana gasped in horror as she began running and jumped up, creating a thin sheet of ice on the floor as a makeshift ice wave for her to slide to the field faster than her legs could carry her. 

 

'Flip! Flip!' Dahyun yelled at Mina who was punching and kicking the air. Mina could feel her heart thumping in her chest. The girl stopped fighting the air and remembered what Dahyun had just taught her.

 

Arms limp and lock the back, Mina recited in her head. She spread her arms and stiffened her back muscles and true enough, she did a perfect backflip. Flames spurt from her heels as she neared the ground and it turned blue to give her more power just before she could crash into the unforgiving ground and blasted upwards. 

 

Sana skidded to a stop at the field right below them and heaved the biggest sigh of relief in her life.

 

'Told ya you could do it.' Dahyun said gleefully as the two landed lightly on their feet in front of Sana who had her arms crossed, visibly displeased.

 

Mina, who had noticed her best friend's displeasure, nudged Dahyun in the side with her elbow. 

 

'What were you two doing?' Sana raised a sceptical eyebrow. 

 

'Learning to fly!' Dahyun chirped. 

 

'By falling out of the sky?' Sana asked, clearly unamused. 

 

'Hey that rhymes! Ow! what?' Dahyun rubbed her arm and glared at Mina who had smacked her.

 

'She was teaching me how to balance and recover from a hit if I ever engaged in a mid-air battle so she was demonstrating how to do a backflip and spring back with a surprise attack.' Mina explained.

 

'Did you have any idea how dangerous that was?' Sana fumed. 'What if you couldn't recover from the fall? You'd die!' 

 

'Heh.. Uh.. Blame me, it was my idea. Mina was hesitant but I promised her that I'd catch her if she couldn't get back up.' 

 

'You two.. Urgh! Value your life more!' Sana barked and stormed off. 

 

Mina sighed. 

 

'Sorry Dahyun.' 

 

'Why? I should be the one who is sorry. I made her mad at you too even though it wasn't your idea.' Dahyun looked down and shuffled her feet. 

 

'Don't worry. I'll try to do some damage control. She can't be angry for long. I'll get going now.' Mina gave a reassuring smile and sprinted off. 'See you around!' 

 

Dahyun chuckled at the sight before taking a stroll to the garden to find her girlfriend.