Emily felt sore all over when she awoke. All she remembered was a strange girl with water powers and the feeling of being electrocuted. She groaned and her mouth felt dry, considering she hadn’t had anything to drink in a while. She also hadn’t eaten anything in a while, but she needed water or anything to drink more than she needed food. She noticed she was in a bed that was not her own, not at the dorm and not at her home. She didn’t know where she was, but she knew she had to get out of this strange room. She looked around the room, scouting it for an exit, and her eyes landed upon a glass of water sitting on the bedside table. She was thirsty, so she took a large sip. She loved how good the water felt against her dry lips and mouth, but as soon as the water went down her throat, she felt strange. She never thought of the fact there could’ve been something in the water. She cursed herself, but she quickly forgave herself after she let out a small moan. Whatever was in the water must’ve been affecting her brain because she felt a fog enter her mind. She couldn’t get rid of the fog, no matter how much she tried to fight it. She let out another moan as the fog continued permeating her brain. The fog wasn’t causing her pain, but more of a feeling that she’d never experienced before. Soon, she could feel the fog settling and her mind became heavy, as if it wasn’t her own anymore. She closed her eyes and reopened them, her eyes now a dull green as opposed to their normal light green.

Where am I? I definitely didn’t make it home. This looks like nothing I remember. This isn’t my room at home or at school. What happened to me? I think the last thing I remember was leaving the Academy, then I was holding Flare Bolt, then I was fighting a water type, and then…then, I don’t remember anything after that. I think there might have been electricity involved. I remember something whitish-yellow, which could’ve been the electricity. I can’t remember when I was able to do that, but I suppose I can now. My head is so fuzzy and I’m so tired. Why can’t I remember what happened to me and why I’m here? Why can’t I remember where I am? Hold on, someone’s coming into the room, maybe I can figure out why I’m here. Wait, something is happening to me. I feel so strange. My head is fuzzier than before. There must have been something in that water I drank. Damn it, I shouldn’t have drunk the water. What’s going to happen to me now? My mind is so numb, so heavy, like there’s a heavy fog rolling around in there, settling over my mind. I think…I think I might be trapped within my own mind and I can’t break free. What am I going to do?

A girl, which Emily recognized as Kyla, walked into the room, holding something in her hands.

“How are you feeling, Emily?”

“I’m feeling good,” Emily replied. I’m tired and confused and my head feels numb and fuzzy. I feel like I’m a prisoner in my own head, trapped with no way out. Why am I here?

“That’s good to hear. The rest would like to see you now, so if you’d like to get dressed, I have some clothes for you to wear during your stay here.”

The rest? Who are the rest?

Kyla placed the item, or items, she was holding in her hands down on the bed. Emily picked up the items and begun undressing. The largest item was a red, one-shoulder dress that came down past her knees, and it had a slit up the side to allow the legs freedom of movement. The dress also had two, small triangular cut-outs at the waist, and the smaller item was a pair of strappy, black heels. Emily folded up her old clothes and put the dress and the heels on. Kyla came over and redid her hair, putting it up in a bun, letting strands of hair fall out of the bun and down Emily’s jawline.

What the hell just happened to me, and why am I wearing this damn thing? I look like I’m going on a date or something. This is ridiculous.

“There, now you are presentable for the others. Come, I shall bring you to them.”

Kyla walked toward the door and Emily got up off the bed and followed her. Kyla led her down the hallway, walking toward the main room of the building. Soon, the hallway opened up into a large room and there was a figure sitting on a throne at the far back of the room, five others surrounding the throne in a circle. Kyla walked up to the figure and they spoke for a few moments before Kyla took her place in the circle. The figure stood up and beckoned Emily toward the throne. One of the figures in the circle, the only male, laughed a little. Emily walked toward the throne and the figure became clear, it was Kari.

“Emmy, we’re so glad you could join us. Welcome to our castle. If you look around you, you’ll see some familiar faces, I’m sure.”

Kari, you bitch, I should’ve known you were behind all of this.

Emily looked around and noticed the only male in the room was Dunstan and Brooke was there too.

“Who are the others? I only recognize Dunstan and Brooke,” Emily said.

“You’ve met Kyla, but the other ladies are Anila Wiater, who controls air, Candace von Brandt, who controls fire, and Alana Harlow, who controls earth.”

Where the hell did she find those three?

“Kyla said you wanted to see me, well, she said all of you wanted to see me. What for?”

“I want you to do something for me,” Kari told her.

“What is it you want me to do?”

“I want you to destroy the Academy but bring me those girls and that boy. I want to make them suffer personally.”

“Consider it done.” What? No! I can’t destroy the Academy! All of my friends are there, Jake and the others, the teachers!

“Good, but I don’t want you to do it yet. There’s a time and a place, and I have a grand master plan. For now, rest, relax, take a load off. There’s plenty of amenities in the castle, so use them as you wish. Everyone, please rest up.”

Brooke walked away, presumably to her room, and Alana and Dunstan walked away together to who knows where. Candace took Anila’s hand and the girls walked off, Candace saying they were headed to the bathroom to take a bath. Emily wondered why the two girls were going off together and looked at Kari for an explanation.

“They’re together and have been for as long as I’ve known them.”

Emily nodded and walked out of the main room, toward one of the bathrooms to take a bath, herself. As she walked past many doors, she heard moaning coming from one of the closed ones. She kept on walking and soon found an open bathroom. She walked in and closed the door. She walked over to the tub and turned on the taps, filling the tub with warm water. She stripped off her dress, her heels, and her bra and panties and laid them in a neat pile near the tub. She walked over to the closet in the room and pulled out a towel, laying it on the closed toilet seat. She moved her pile of clothes on top of the toilet tank and slowly entered the tub.

Meanwhile, in the other bathroom, both occupants were discussing Emily and her part in Kari’s plan. Anila was sitting at the vanity, brushing her long, black hair, while Candace was soaking in the large bathtub, her clothes resting in a neat pile on the toilet. Candace’s long, blonde hair was spread around her head like a halo.

“What do you think of Emily, Candace?” Anila asked her lover.

“I think that Mistress Kari’s big plan is going exactly as she wants it to. We kidnap Emily, force her to destroy her school and her friends, and Mistress Kari wins. She wanted the powers of the ‘perfect set,’ but all she had to do was break up the one that already existed.”

“This plan is very well thought out by our mistress, but she knows what’s best, so we can’t interfere. We must make sure that Mistress Kari’s plan continues as she planned it.”

“Yes, we must. We must ensure that her plan continues as planned. Now, my dear, won’t you come and soak with me?” She smiled at Anila and continued soaking.

Meanwhile, in the other bathroom, Emily was just finishing up her bath and getting out. Once she set her feet on the bathmat, she grabbed her towel and began drying herself off. Once she was dried off, Emily wrapped her towel around her body, grabbed her clothes, and made her way back to her room. Once back in her room, Emily went and looked in the closet for something a bit more casual than her dress and heels. She found a turtleneck, a skirt, and a pair of boots, and pulled them out. She closed her eyes and focused on her clothes, her bra and panties reappearing on her body, as well as the turtleneck and skirt. She looked in the drawers for socks. She found a pair of tights and closed her eyes again, the tights appearing on her body. She undid her bun and redid her hair in a single braid, then laid back down on her bed to await further orders from Kari. She wanted her to destroy the Academy and bring her former friends and ex-boyfriend so she could deal with them personally, well, that she could do, and she would enjoy every bit of the destruction. She held up her hand, feeling the same tingling, and allowing it to travel down her arm. White-yellow sparks wrapped themselves around her arm. Whatever happened to her, it must have unlocked her electrokinetic powers. She was glad that she finally unlocked those powers and now she was going to use them to destroy the place she once called her second home.