The next day I hadn't seen Finn or Aidan at all, so I decided to give them some space. But I still couldn't find either of them today!

  The first step in understanding Aidan would be to talk to Finn, right? After all, he could read Aidan's mind and tell me what bothered him so much. But it was impossible to find him! Ugh! Maybe Aqua would know where he is—

  Suddenly, I got a nauseous feeling as the scenery around me changed from one of the hallways to the outdoor arena.

  "Boo!" Maverick's voice sounded from behind me, causing me to jump slightly at the unexpected loudness.

  "Haha. Very funny," I said sarcastically. "I imagine you have a good reason for dragging me out here without telling me?"

  "It's time for your daily training."

  "Daily training?" I furrowed my brows. "We haven't trained in... I don't know how many days. I need to get a calendar. Did you find anything out about my problem?"

  "No, unless you mean your calendar problem. There should be some in storage. If not, you can buy them in town. Also, it's only been two days." Strange, I could've sworn it had been longer.

  "With what money?" I crossed my arms, irritated.

  "The money that Sylvis gives you...?" He studied me quizzically as if I had somehow said something insane.

  "Wait, what?" This was the first time I had heard anything about money. Besides Sylvis wanting money from me. "Why would Sylvis give me money?"

  "Sylvis gives all of us money so we can, you know, actually have a life outside this manor if we so please."

  "Man... You've been collecting money for centuries now. Bet you're rich."

  My comment seemed to hit him the wrong way. I expected him to make some sort of snarky comment boasting about himself, but he almost looked... mad? Gee, it was just a joke!

  "What makes you think I've been at this manor my whole life?" His narrowed mismatched eyes gazed into mine, and for a moment, I forgot Finn was the mindreader, not him.

  "Haven't you...?" My voice was much quieter than I intended. I liked teasing Maverick and all, but he's not someone I wanted to make genuinely angry.

  "That's none of your business. Anyway, ask Sylvis if you want to know more about your money and calendars." He switched back to normal so quickly that I almost thought I imagined him being angry. I didn't, did I?

  "If you haven't found anything new, why are we training?" I asked, getting back to the topic at hand.

  "Why not? You want to go home, and I want to stop looking after you. Might as well try."

  I rolled my eyes. "Like your job is so hard. I'm surprised you're not slacking off so that you don't have to do your job to begin with."

  He gave me another look that I didn't like. When will I learn to keep my big mouth shut?

  “It’s harder than you think.” He glared at me. Cryptic. Of course.

  He seemed lost in thought for a moment, like he was debating something. “Let’s work on suppression today.”

  “Suppression?” I raised an eyebrow.

  He nodded. “If you get used to controlling your magic that way, maybe something will click, and you can use it the other way. Or maybe your body will reject the suppression and end up doing the opposite. That's kind of how suppression works.”

  I guess we didn’t really have many other options, so I nodded my head.

  And immediately regretted it.

  With a flick of his wrist, I was inside some sort of tube that wrapped all around me, giving me space to move a couple inches in any direction, and that was all.

  “H-Hey! What are you doing?!” I shouted, banging my fists against the glass. If that really was glass.

  “Testing your fear.” Maverick crossed his arms, a smug grin on his face that I desperately wanted to punch off.

  “You could’ve warned me ahead of time!”

  “That would have defeated the purpose!” He threw his arms up exasperated.

  “Well, this didn’t serve any purpose either! How am I supposed to control myself if I don’t know it’s coming?!” I had to stop pounding the glass because it was beginning to ice over, making it harder to see Maverick, which just made me all the more terrified…

  “That’s the point?”

  “Let me out of here!” I demanded.

  “You’re claustrophobic, right?” I couldn’t see his expression, which made me nervous about where he was going with this.

  “What do you think?!” I answered, knowing it was pointless to lie after having such an extreme reaction.

  “Okay, cool. Bye.” I could vaguely see him wave.

  “Wait!” I screamed. “Don’t go! Don’t leave me trapped like this! How am I even supposed to get out?!” The entire glass around me was fogging up from how icy my hands had become. Any more and I’d probably freeze to death! Though oddly, I didn’t feel cold…

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Relax. I’m not actually leaving. But claustrophobia is good to know. The longer you’re in there, the worse it will get. Better learn to control your magic soon.”

  I tried and I tried, but I was far too worked up. My hand accidentally pressed against the ice ...causing the entire thing to freeze over.

  The panic consumed me. I had no room to move, and I couldn’t see outside at all, so I had no idea whether or not Maverick was still there. Not to mention he wouldn’t answer when I called out! Knowing him, he’d leave me trapped in here as a joke even if I did calm down! So, what was the point of calming down?!

  I’m going to be trapped, there’s no way out. Nobody knows I’m here, Maverick probably already left, I’m all alone, and my only saving grace is that the top is open, allowing sunlight in. If I was completely in the dark, I would have gone insane already! Then maybe my magic would have blasted this thing open by now! Maybe I should let myself go insane! Am I already insane?

  The grass beneath my feet iced over, further fueling my insanity. Maybe if I pounded on the walls, they would eventually break.

  I tried but to no avail. They were probably magic anyway. Stupid magical walls.

  Time seemed to stop and last an eternity at the same time. I had lost track of how long I had been in here, and couldn’t get an accurate view of the sun either. I don’t want to waste my day in a stupid cage! If only there was someone — anyone — who could get me out.

  Wait, there was one person who would surely help me.

  “Sylvis!” I cried out. And to my great relief, the walls around me disappeared, revealing lush greenery, a pissed-off Maverick, and an angry Sylvis.

  “What did you do that for?!” he snapped at me.

  “You wouldn’t let me out and I was getting worried I’d be trapped forever in there!” I shouted.

  “That’s the point!” He fumed before his expression quickly changed. “T-The fear, I mean. Not you being trapped forever. Even I wouldn’t do that… Heh…”

  “Maverick, haven’t you taken this a little too far?” Sylvis asked, her fingers rhythmically tapping along her folded arms. She was wearing a long white dress — more formal than her usual outfits. Was she in the middle of something important? Was that why she was extra pissed?

  “We were testing her ability to control her magic.”

  “Emotional manipulation.” Sylvis didn’t look amused.

  “In a physical scientific way, yes, you could say that.” Maverick looked both smug and worried at the same time. Or maybe I was just so used to him looking smug I couldn’t see him any other way.

  Sylvis sighed. “Regardless, there will be absolutely no trapping of any kind allowed during future training sessions. Is that clear?”

  “Yes.” He rolled his eyes, and she rolled hers back. Weird dynamic they have. Guess that happens when you’ve known each other for literal centuries…

  Maverick left right after Sylvis did, leaving me feeling awkward like I had ruined both of their days. I probably had. Oh well, at least I could continue my search for Finn. I would have to do this the old-fashioned way.

  Toootally didn't go to all of the dorm floors looking for his name on the door. Wait, what if there's another Finn?! These doors don't exactly have last names on them.

  Hm... Rosalie is door one, and Maverick is door two. I guess that makes sense. I wonder if Rosalie would mind if I peeked into her room? Probably. She'd probably kill me. She sounds scary.

  Nearly fifty doors later, I finally found his room. I took a deep breath, preparing myself to knock—

  "Stalking me?"

  "Aiyeee!" I nearly jumped a foot in the air before turning around and watching Finn laugh his head off. Meanie. Was everyone trying to scare me today? "I didn't even hear you!"

  "I teleported myself over after watching you go door to door and stopping at mine." He was still laughing. Hmph. "You were looking for me? Sorry, I wasn't trying to avoid you."

  "You weren't anywhere you usually were. I was starting to think you were mad at me." I crossed my arms.

  He shuffled awkwardly, leaning on one foot and then the other. Wait, was he actually mad at me...?

  "No, I'm not mad at you. It's just... Why don't we talk somewhere else? People are constantly coming and going as they please, and I don't want to be interrupted."

  I nodded, and he beckoned me to follow him to the elevator. I followed, but couldn't help but wonder, why don't we just teleport like Maverick does?

  He grimaced. "Teleporting for Maverick is easy. For me, not so much."

  "You just teleported like two minutes ago."

  "Over a short distance, yeah. Teleporting several stories down with two people is another story." Heh. Story.

  We eventually made it to the first floor, right outside the manor. During my time here, I counted six different fountains, all with different flowers and even trees and bushes planted around them. Some were less busy than others. The one directly in front of the elevator, for example, was always busy.

  "Rosalie and Sylvis had the idea of curating every kind of plant. Oddly enough, nobody knows if they've succeeded. Supposedly, one or two are part of a now-extinct species," Finn explained.

  "Really?" My eyes lit up at that information. I always had a fascination with extinct species, though that usually applied more to animals than plants.

  Finn nodded, and we took a seat at one of the fountains further away.

  It was quiet, outside of the running water and the slight breeze rustling the leaves. I forgot how nice it was to be outside sometimes.

  "You like Aidan a lot, don't you?" Finn looked at me earnestly, his words catching me off guard.

  "As a friend, yeah...?" I answered awkwardly, completely unprepared for this question.

  "Sorry." He chuckled. "I didn't mean to insinuate anything else. But if you value him as a friend, then maybe it would be better if we..." He cut himself off, biting his lower lip. "If we didn't hang out so much."

  "What do you mean?" I spoke quickly, frowning at how hurt he looked.

  "If I'm around you, then Aidan will avoid you. He... doesn't like me. Hates me, actually." Yeah, I knew that much.

  "Why does he hate you?"

  "He's already told you—"

  "No. That was just an excuse. There's obviously a deeper reason behind it, a deeper reason that you have to know since you can read minds."

  He exhaled through his nose, giving me a sad smile in the process. "So, you figured that much out yourself. I'm afraid if you want to know more, you'll have to ask him directly. I don't... like telling other people's secrets. It feels disrespectful. ...I'm fully aware that I know things I shouldn't. I wouldn't want to use that against anyone, even Aidan."

  I was stunned. He could be so aloof at times, I hadn't expected him to... No. I should apologize. I had him completely wrong all this time. Or mostly wrong, anyway.

  "It's fine. It's normal to think a mind reader can't be trusted. Goddess, I wouldn't even trust myself." He slid his fingers through his hair, bringing it upwards before letting it fall back down. He seemed... stressed.

  "Can I at least ask why you turned Aidan down? Was it out of spite?" I asked, lowering my head to see his expression.

  "No, it's..." He sighed. "I guess I can tell you this much." He paused, seemingly wrestling with his inner thoughts. "He had no intention of letting me help."

  "What do you mean?"

  "He would've sabotaged the whole thing to ensure I didn't come anywhere close to his sister. He doesn't trust me at all."

  "What? No, there's no way he would do that! Could he really be that petty?"

  I had to find him and ask him what the hell was going on.

  "Good luck finding him. If things didn't go well with you after that conversation, he intended to avoid you," Finn explained.

  "It's a good thing we're next-door neighbors. I'll kick down that door or freeze the lock or do whatever is necessary! Oh, and where can I get a calendar?" Huh, that last thought was random.

  Finn chuckled. "There should be a stack of them in the library somewhere. Ask Zephyr if you need any help. He more or less works in the library, so he should know where they are."

  Great. I can get a calendar so I can plan Maverick's downfall— I mean, know how long I've spent trapped in this world.

  But first, Aidan!