How had it come to this?

Leia scowled, staring at the brunette watching her with narrowed eyes, shifting awkwardly on her seat as she tried to get the woman to stop glaring at her. All her plans had been flushed down the drain when she'd decided to show off.

The gold sashed alchemist, whose name she soon found out to be Zen, had dragged her from the room, taking the corrected recipe with them. That had been her first inkling that she'd made a major mistake with her corrections. She'd revealed too much.

Her assumptions were reaffirmed the second she'd seen them. One of the so-called Princes of Alchemy and one of the Seven Greatest Elixir Masters.

"Zen." The man with the black robes of an Elixir Master greeted him, raising an eyebrow at his sudden arrival. "I thought you'd be busy with your own student..."

He wordlessly handed over the roll of parchment in answer to his unspoken question.

Brown eyes flickered over the words. "You corrected it?!" He stared at him, shock written across his face. "It's a Second Tier Recipe."

Leia blinked, cursing Zen silently. She'd have thought he'd give her a Fourth Tier at most if he was being evil, but no. He'd decided to give her something any normal thirteen-year-old wouldn't have been able to do. She probably should've guessed by the smirk he'd given her, but the temptation to wipe the smug grin off his face had been too much. She'd fixed a failed Second Tier Recipe in under thirty seconds. With only one grade of elixirs higher than what she'd just corrected, it was no wonder Zen had dragged her off. He'd have dragged her off even if she'd taken half an hour to do it.

She'd never paid much attention to the grading of elixirs in her last life. She had, after all, been something more than the everyday Elixir Master. So much so, she'd been called the Elixir Queen. But that little fact had turned out to be her downfall.

"Not me." Zen said, tugging on her arm. "Her."

Two sets of eyes blinked, sliding over to stare at the scowling girl Zen had trapped in his iron grip. "Seriously?!"

"Kyran, I wouldn't joke about something like this." He sighed, glancing at Leia as she started to squirm. "What's more, she did in under thirty seconds..."

He was on his feet in seconds, bowing slightly to the blonde. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

"That's fine." The Prince of Alchemy smiled.

"Who are we taking her to?" Zen asked, dragging Leia behind him, ignoring her pointed glare. "Vanessa will probably scare her... and I doubt Tyrion would be too pleased to have a child rummaging around his office."

"Tyrion's the only one around right now." Kyran said, leading the way towards the office, taking her down an awfully familiar path – one that led to a portal... which in turn led to Kiryin Palace. The last place she really wanted to go at that moment.

"Do you seriously have to do this?" Her shoulders sunk. "I only corrected a recipe. It's not a big deal."

"The fact you don't know how big of a deal it is, only proves you're still a child." Kyran said, not even bothering to glance back at her as they reached the wall of blue light. It swirled and moved, like glowing smoke trapped behind an invisible barrier.

"Pfft." If only they knew. She was anything but a child.

"Come on." Zen smiled. "You'll get to meet other alchemists of your calibre..."

Leia's face twisted, her teeth biting down on her lip. It was tempting, yes, but she wasn't sure it was time for her to shine as an alchemist. She'd wanted to climb through the ranks slowly, practicing her sword work on the side.

"Brat...?" A soft voice drew her attention onto the familiar face, Xander staring at her curiously as she was dragged away. "What's going on?"

"We're taking her to Kiryin Palace to be tested."

"Oh." Xander mumbled. "At least get her head checked while she's there. I've been meaning to take her over there to get that done."

"What is it with you and getting my head examined?!" Leia paused, a foxy grin appearing on her face. "Could it be you actually care about me...?"

"Hardly, I'd just prefer to know why the hell you're hugging random strangers half the time."

"They're warm."

Xander's face went blank. "And you wonder why I'm concerned..."