Jacques and Emerald had joined us by then, and Terra vs Marvin was the only fight still going on. Us winners watched intently, each taking a side. I was cheering on Terra with Emerald.

She lost, and I snapped my fingers (shucks!). After Mr. Hart taught us a few techniques for taking down opponents-slash-defending ourselves, a bell rang. We walked down for lunch, which consisted of chicken fingers. Next was math. I trudged my way through an hour of my absolute favourite class, frowning the whole time.

Then I had private lessons.

Wednesday was my day- along with Jacques- to go downstairs and learn stuff with Mr. Prent. Abbot and Emerald, who'd gone yesterday, hadn't said a word. I wasn't scared, not at all, more like nervous.

We sat down in a pair of chairs, facing a desk, in front of a grey-haired, stern faced man.

"Hello, Elastica. Hello, Winter."

"Hi," I said. Jacques repeated my answer.

"Today is our first day together, so we'll be learning the extant of your powers, how far they can stretch- no pun intended, Elastica- and how long before you get exhausted. Elastica, you sill go first. MKe the biggest band you can."

How was I going to make a giant one? The biggest I'd made before could just barely wrap around someone's waist. I could make one a lot larger than that.

I squeezed my hand, slowly opening it again. Elastic filled my palm, and when I stretched it out it was almost as big as me, though it would probably snap if I put much pressure on it.

"Well done," Mr. Prent said. "Good for your first try. Winter, you next." He paused. "Actually, we'll watch through the window. Wouldn't want to get frostbite." We stepped out into the hallway, and I pressed my face to the window. Mr. Prent stood to the side, calm as ever, but I was shivering already. And that was not from the cold.

Jacques closed his eyes, and a moment later a small snowstorm began to pick up in the office. He raised his hands and it went higher. Snow spiralled around. I couldn't see him anymore, just a blur of white. After a minute, the wind died down inside, and we opened the door. A blast of freezing air came out to greet us, and I shivered. Jacques was either dead-by-hypothermia or had some immunity to the cold.

Well, he wasn't dead, though he was collapsed on the ground, panting, so I had to kill one of the options.

"Adam?" Mr. Prent called, and Maddi's twin (they looked so similar, in the details, that they couldn'g not be related) rushed in. A fireball appeared in his hand, and I instinctively leapt back. Afte a minute or two, the fire in his hand died down, but it was considerably warmer. And the room was no longer frozen, which was probably nice for our teacher. Adam left without saying a word, and Mr. Prent got back into his seat. I pulled Jacques into his.

"I think we've seen your limit, Winter. Good job, by the way. Luckily I had Feuvie on hand to reverse any damage." He looked behind me, and when I swiveled around (spinny chairs... my favourite) I saw a clock on the wall.

There were a lot of clocks in this place.

"For the next hour or so we'll just be practicing. Also, have either of you come across a rock recently? We lost a very important one."

I tried not to let my alarm show. Jacques turned to me. "Weren't you looking for one yesterday?"

"Um, that's from my father," I said. "I've had it for a while. Definitely not the same one." Oh, Mr. Hart better have a good reason as to why he probably stole it and then gave it to me so he wouldn't get in trouble. At least, that was my reasoning.

"Well, if you find one, please report it as soon as possible. It's a relic that is very important to the school." We nodded, and I was glad that his power wasn't telling if someone was lying.

Wait, was it?

"What's your power?" I blurted. "I was wondering..."

His smile faded. "I'm afraid I can't tell you. Now get to practice, Elastica."