Chapter 45 Frozen in time
THE FIFTH ELEMENT 🌊🔥🌪️⛰️☯️
Cassie's POV~
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I stared at the blood on my hand, then looked over at Sage. Fury built slow and hot inside me.
She had a sympathetic look on her face, but I didn’t care.
She cut me.
I shifted my gaze to the podium where the Elementals sat. No surprise there — every one of them had their eyes locked on Sage and me.
I know they were itching to see what I could do. So I decided to give them what they wanted.
“Okay, Sage. Let’s go again,” I said.
She looked unsure. “Are you sure about that? We could just end this here. I don’t want to hurt you badly. They won’t do anything to us if we refuse to go any further.”
“I said… let’s go again.” My voice was firmer this time.
She frowned but nodded. “Fine. If you insist. But just know this — don’t get hurt trying to impress anyone.”
“I’m not trying to impress anyone. If I was, you wouldn’t have hit me twice already,” I snapped.
“Okay. If you still want to go on, I won’t stop you. Honestly, I want you to learn to defend yourself. So let’s do it.” She went back into position.
I let out a heavy breath and closed my eyes for a few seconds to center myself.
When I opened them, I was ready.
I had her mind exactly where I wanted it.
I wasn’t going to let her slip away from my grip this time.
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I had Sage’s mind exactly where I wanted. There was no way I was losing my grip on it again.
I saw her advance with her sword, and I stood firm, waiting for her to get close enough. When she did, her sword dangerously close to my face, I froze her in place.
She stood like a statue, not a muscle moving, her sword still raised. I ducked under her arm and stepped away to get a proper look at what I’d just done.
I studied Sage as she stood there, completely motionless.
Did I really do that?
“Well done, Cassie,” someone said behind me.
I turned to see the Elementals standing a few feet away.
“Um, thanks,” I replied to Mrs. Stone.
“Since when have you known what you could do, if I may ask?” Mr. Winchester said.
“Not too long,” I told him.
“I’m guessing Mr. Ken Griffey helped a lot with that. Am I right?” Mrs. Stone asked.
“Yeah, actually, he did. Although I haven’t had lessons with him in a while,” I said.
Sage’s mom was circling Sage, inspecting her like she was a science experiment.
“Is there more?” Sage’s mom asked me.
She must have noticed me watching her.
“More what?” I asked, confused.
“Is there more that you can do? Or is this it?” she pressed.
“Um… I…” I started to answer, but decided to check something first.
I wonder what she’s thinking right now… let me take a look.
I tried to slip into Sage’s mom’s mind, but it felt weird. Difficult. Like pushing through fog.
(There must be… more… she can… do. There has… to be… I… must… know everything. I’m running out… of time…) I caught fragments before it went completely blank.
“Well? Is there?” Mrs. Stone asked.
I blinked a few times. “No. At least none that I know of.”
(She’s lying to us.) I heard Mr. Winchester’s inner voice, which made me snap my head toward him. His face was calm. Normal.
How did he know I was lying?
“Okay, child. But remember that you can always come to any of us for anything. Or just for advice,” Mrs. Stone said sweetly, and I nodded.
“Can you also undo ‘this’?” Sage’s mom asked, pointing to her daughter.
“Oh. Yeah, of course. I think.” I said awkwardly.
I really hope I can reverse it with ease. Don’t want to embarrass myself in front of these people.
I focused on Sage again, slipping back into her mind. The next second, she unfroze.
She looked confused. She glanced around, saw her mom behind her, and flinched back in surprise.
“What the hell?” she said quietly.
“Tell me. What was it like to be in that state? Did it hurt, or was it painless?” her mom asked.
I raised an eyebrow.
Why would she ask her that?
“Huh?” Sage replied.
“You know I hate to repeat myself,” her mom said coldly.
“I guess it was painless. Just… numbness,” Sage said, looking down.
Sage’s mom nodded and turned to me.
“Cassie, dear child, I am very happy about this development with your powers. Also, I haven’t mentioned how proud I was of how you stopped that monster that attacked the school that night.”
“Um… I wasn’t really the one who stopped the monster. I just helped a little. Jake stopped it,” I said, trying to dodge the attention.
“He wouldn’t have been able to do that if you weren’t there. So it was all you. And on behalf of the Elementals and the school, thank you. Good job,” Sage’s mom said and smiled.
Something about her smile was unnerving.
“Thank you,” I managed.
“We’ll leave you both to continue,” she said, and left with the other Elementals.
I looked at Sage. Her face was blank as she watched them leave.
“That was weird,” I said to her.
“Yeah. Yeah, it was,” she replied.
She made her sword disappear.
“But hey, you did it. You controlled your powers,” she said with a slight smile.
“Yeah, I did. Thanks to you for pushing me,” I said.
“You’re welcome. We might not be friends, but if you need someone to smack you in the head a few times to get in control, you can come to me,” she said, and I nodded.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied.
“So, you wanna go again or…” she asked.
“Sure. Let’s go at it,” I said and smirked.
Sage conjured an arrow this time, and I almost gasped.
“Seriously, an arrow? How am I supposed to stop that?” I asked, and she shrugged.
“Do your mind thing. Let’s see how it goes,” she said, smirking back.
I nodded and took deep breaths to concentrate.
~