Lunch dragged on for what seemed like forever, for me at least. After that big revelation, everything went back to normal. Kira and Gabriella never came back to the table and Rose and the boys were having a great time talking about their summer adventures and how great it was to finally be seniors. I on the other had lost my appetite as well as my willingness to participate in the conversation. My mind was enveloped in chaos, a whirlwind of anxious thoughts and unanswered questions storming in my head. I spent what felt like eternity at that table staring absentmindedly at the ocean, trying to grasp the information that had been dumped on me. For as long as I have been in Lixierra all I wanted to do was find out the truth and now that I have known everything I didn’t know what to do with this knowledge. It was one thing to look like someone else, it wasn’t uncommon or unheard of for people to have doppelgangers, but it was another thing to look exactly like the dead teenage queen of the mystics. I glanced at my wrist watch and sighed as I realized I had to go. I cleared my throat, speaking for the first time in a while
“I have to go. I am going to be late for my lesson.” 
“Good luck. I’ll see you at home later.” Rose gave me a warm smile.
“Yeah.” I smiled back.
“It was very nice to meet you Lilith.” Baekhyun stood up.
“We should hang out more often.” Suho finished.
“We will.” I extended my smile to them, grateful for their honesty and their genuine desire to include me in their group. 
I made my way out of the restaurant and headed back to school. It was time to meet Mr. Blackthorn again and to say I was dreading this lesson would be an understatement. It was hard enough to be a powerless mystic struggling to control my magic, but now I had something else to worry about. According to Suho, Baekhyun and Rose, Ahri was a force to be reckoned with. She was fierce, brave and determined, which would make sense as she was the queen and the battle for the throne wasn’t an easy quest. So not only did I have to agonize about harnessing my powers in time to graduate, I now had to endure the endless comparisons that would no doubt be drawn between me and the late queen. We might look alike, but I was in no way as powerful or as respected as she was, and I was going to have to live with her shadow looming over me for the rest of the year. 
I pushed the classroom door open, not bothering to knock, and made my way in. I glanced around, raising a quizzical eyebrow as I noticed Mr. Blackthorn wasn’t on top of his desk meditating as he usually was every time I came to see him. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen, and I started to wonder if he cancelled the lesson and forgot to tell me. It wasn’t an unbelievable option, Mr. Blackthorn was the forgetful and slightly eccentric type, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he got caught up watering his garden or reading his endless collection of mystery novels. I took a deep breath, unsure what to do now that my mentor was a no show, and doubled back to the door. Maybe I’ll head back home and get a head start on my lessons for tomorrow.
“There you are. I was looking for you everywhere.” Mr. Blackthorn’s voice rang through the empty classroom as he peaked his head through the open door, startling me in the process.
“Mr. Blackthorn!” I gasped, putting my hand on my heart. “Where else would I be? We have our lessons here every day.” 
“Not today, we’re having today’s lesson in the garden. I thought I told you about this yesterday.” Mr. Blackthorn gave me a confused look as he smoothed his black coat. 
“No sir, you didn’t.” I rolled my eyes ever so slightly, my mentor’s shaky memory wasn’t exactly a novelty anymore. 
“Well I’m telling you now. Let’s go, we’re wasting daylight.” He grabbed my wrist and rushed my through the hall and into the garden, smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. 
“Why are we here?” I asked, nervous to display my powers - or lack thereof- in public. 
“To practice, of course.” He twirled his hands around and small pebbles from where we were standing rose from the ground and hovered next to his face. “Your powers are blocked, and we weren’t making much progress inside in that classroom, so I thought I’d let you out. Maybe if you were to practice out here, where you can be in tune with the natural elements, your magic would find its way through.” 
His theory made sense, or at least I thought it did. To be honest I wasn’t completely focused on the lesson. With everything that happened today, I felt drained and I wanted nothing more than to just get this over with and go home to wallow in shame and self pity. I was both physically and emotionally tired, and it wasn’t just because of Ahri. Classes start tomorrow and I knew that I was in no way ready to face the mystics. I was mad at myself for agreeing to come here, mad at my parents for keeping this a secret for as long as they did, mad at Kira for leaving me earlier and mad at Mr. Blackthorn for insisting I was some sort of powerful magical being when I knew in my heart that I was nothing of the sort. But most of all, beyond all the anger and confusion and anxiety, there was something else at the back of my mind. A thought that wouldn’t disappear no matter how much I tried not to think about it. A name. A face. Chanyeol. Ever since this morning, I found it harder and harder to get him out of my mind. Scratch that, ever since we talked at the ball, even before I knew what he looked like or who he was, I wasn’t able to stop thinking about him. And now that I knew that I looked like a ghost from his past, my hopes shattered around me like a broken mirror. 
“Alright.” I snapped out of my miserable mind and focused on Mr. Blackthorn who was staring at me with a quizzical look. “Let’s set something on fire.” I smiled briefly.
“Actually”, he started, “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but today I want you to focus on summoning your secondary element.” 
“And how do I do that?” I sighed.
“The same way you summon your fire. Or try to, at least.” He smirked. “You concentrate, feel the magic in your core, but instead of visualizing fire, try another element.” 
“Sure thing.” I nodded. If it were any other day, I would tell him that I don’t think there is any magic in my core, that I can barely summon the tiniest of flames, that this whole visualizing elements thing was total crap. But today was nothing like any other day, I had no energy to argue or worry or object, and in the hopes of speeding up this process I decided to smile, nod, and just do whatever he asks. 
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. In my head, my memories flashed back to my birthday, t