Illia's POV

We all stared at the spot were Briar had disappeared incredulously. Nico especially was looking around for any sign of his opponent. Suddenly the entire arena dissolved around us, and we were once again standing on normal ground. It was only then that we noticed that the headmistresses and Zenery were gone too.
“Where IS everyone?” Amber asked, eyes darting around the room nervously.
Gareth (of course) was the one to answer.
“They’ve followed Briar.” He stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“And you expected us to know that because?” Larimar spat with more anger than seemed fair.
He turned to her with a look of superiority that I didn’t understand, or very much like.
“Well, it ought to be obvious. Oh , I forgot, you aren’t very knowledgeable in the field of elementalism, are you?”
I shivered from the sudden breeze that flew through the room.
“I know plenty.”
“Of course you do. That’s why you’re in such good control of your element.” The sarcasm practically oozed from his sentence.
The wind was now rushing in little circles around the room, and Amber (the closes to the two) was beginning to back away.
“Says the guy who’s too afraid to even show us his powers. Or are you just too high and mighty to stoop to that level?”
The area around Gareth began to darken, and an eerie feeling began to accompany the wind in the room.
Larimar obviously picked up on this.
“Heh. Seems like I’m not the only one whose powers have a mind of their own. How does it feel to know that you’re no better than the rest of us?”
In the blink of an eye Gareth appeared before Larimar, his face still expressionless. Well we all knew how this was going to end. He’d used basically the same move on Xerin, and look how well that turned out for her.
Larimar, surprisingly, seemed to know what was happening, and before anyone knew what was happening she was up in the air, Gareth below her looking disdainful as usual.
She quickly brought her leg down, aiming for the back of his head, but quick as a cat he grabbed her leg, and used her own speed to fling her across the room.
Just before Larimar hit the wall, a powerful burst of air cushioned her, and she landed on the ground crouching. Instantly they both launched themselves at each other, Larimar’s face drawn into a snarl, Gareth still expressionless. It didn’t look good for Larimar. Suddenly a burst of light erupted in the center of the room, sending both of them flying back, Gareth crashing into the wall, Larimar onto Nico, who was still too worn to move very fast. Amber screamed loudly, but the rest of us watched in silent awe.
When the light died down, we saw an envelope sitting in the middle of the room, as normal as can be.
Xerin was the first one to come to her senses.
“Should one of us… read it?” she pondered out loud.
Caleb, nodded mutely, and went to pick it up.
While he was reading it silently, I surveyed the damage. Gareth and Larimar were both starting to get up slowly, Larimar glaring at Gareth and Gareth merely looking superior, but they didn’t seem to be planning to attack each other again, for now at least. Nico on the other hand was holding his leg and his face was screwed up in pain.
I started to walk over to him
“Are you okay?”
Lisse had gotten there first and was surveying the damage. I stopped, and decided to wait where I was. Tyron came up next to me.
“Do you think they’re okay?” he asked me worriedly.
Gareth and Larimar were up now, dusting themselves off, and Lisse was talking to Nico in hushed tones.
“Yeah I think so. Jesus Christ, who would have thought Gareth and Larimar would try to beat the shit out of each other?”
Tyron smiled slightly.
“I don’t even know. Seems like he set Larimar off pretty good.”
I nodded and was going to say something else, but was interrupted by Caleb.
“Hey guys! The letter is from the headmistresses. Says they’re gonna be gone for a bit with Zenery and Briar, and that we have the rest of the day off. Also they say not to destroy the room please.” He said the last bit in such a way that I couldn’t help but to laugh.
The others seemed to find this equally amusing.
Lisse stood up abruptly, and cut the laughter short.
“Nico’s ankle is hurt, so I’m going to take him to the nurse, seeing as the rest of you don’t know where it is. I suggest you all spend your day not trying to kill each other for the sake of the rest of our well beings.” The last part was obviously directed at Larimar and Gareth, whom had retreated to opposite ends of the room.
Quietly Lisse helped Nico up, and they walked out of the room. The rest of the group began to break off into smaller groups and head out as well, though Larimar and Gareth made sure to give each other one last hateful glance before leaving.
I turned to Tyron.
“Hey I heard that the school has a really cool garden. Wanna come help me find it?” I asked happily, now that no one was in any danger.
“Uh, yeah sure. That would be um, really nice.” He said, slightly startled, and turning slightly pink.
“Great!” I said cheerily, grabbing his hand, and pulling him off towards the door.