Parker jumped over the edge of the roof in a hurry, almost tripping over the lip of the roof. He lowered himself through the air to Caleb’s side and put his arm around him.

Caleb was too afraid to let go of the window ledge and grab onto Parker so they could fly back up to the roof. He could feel both of their hearts pounding through their chests.

“I’m sorry!” Parker shouted in Caleb’s ear. Parker lifted with everything he had to get Caleb off of the window ledge but he wouldn’t let go. No matter how hard he pulled at Caleb, he wouldn’t budge.

“I can’t!” Caleb yelled.

Parker pulled up on him again. “Just let go! I have you!” The wind whipped by, pulling at their bodies, making it harder and harder for Parker to stay floating in one spot.

“I can’t!” Caleb yelled again.

“Yes, you can!” With one final, strong pull, Caleb’s hands lost their grip and they went flying upwards out of control. The wind was wreaking havoc on Parker’s flying and with the added weight of Caleb, he almost faltered out of his tornado.

Parker looked up in hopes of it helping him make it up to the roof. He saw Alexis’s head pop out over the side and she reached her hand out to help. Parker couldn’t help but think that there was no way she’d be able to pull both of them up to the roof.

Parker grabbed ahold of the top window ledge before the roof. He’d lost his tornado, they were just hanging by the tips of his fingers. He couldn’t believe that he was able to hold to both of them.

The next thing he knew, the two of them were sitting in the middle of the roof in front of Alexis. “Wha—” Parker looked around, trying to figure out what in the world had happened. Then it clicked, Alexis had stopped time, flown down, and pulled them to the roof. It was the only thing that could’ve been possible.

Caleb’s heart was still pounding. When they unfroze, he flung his arms through the air, frantically trying to grab onto something. “Caleb, it’s okay. You’re safe now.” Alexis grabbed him by the shoulder to try and calm him down. It took a moment, but when the wind whipped through, piercing their bodies, he snapped back to reality. With big, slow breaths, he was able to calm himself down. “Let’s get back inside,” she said gesturing to their descent spot.

When they took seats in the commons, everyone else had already left for the night. “I really don’t like it when you freeze time,” Caleb groaned.

“What do you mean stop time?” She looked at him confused. “I didn’t do anything. One moment you were hanging for your life, the next you were sitting on the roof.”

Caleb gave her a look and scooted closer to the fire to warm up. Monty was curled up in his little bed, breathing steadily. He looked at the critter and smiled, wishing he could be just as cozy.

“What happened up there?” Alexis asked, digging for information.

Caleb glared at Parker and then said, “Nothing. It’s over.”

Parker didn’t know what exactly was over, the moment, or their friendship. He’d made a huge mistake and almost killed his best friend. How would Caleb ever forgive him?

“Yeah… I don’t believe you for a second. ‘Nothing’ happened.” She laughed. “Then how did you end up almost falling down the side of the castle?”

“Look,” Caleb snapped. “I just don’t want to talk about it.” He got up from the fire and stormed off down the boys’ corridor.

The two of them watched him as he disappeared. It took a few moments for either of them to say anything. The fire crackled in the quiet room and at the right moments, they could hear Monty take a deep breath in his sleep.

“Seriously, tell me what happened.” She gave him a look that dared him to keep it to himself. He knew there was no way he was making it back to his room without spilling the details.

“We just got into a little argument, and I lost my temper.”

She stared at him without saying anything. The look in her eyes made Parker feel even more terrible than he already did. His heart started to race and he didn’t want to go further in fear of snapping back at Alexis and getting into more trouble than he was already in with her.

“Sorry, about earlier…” he said in an attempt to change the subject.

“What about it?”

He looked confused. Had she forgotten about getting mad at him earlier? Or was she just testing him to see if he actually knew what he did that upset her? “I’m like the worst friend you could ask for…”

Alexis gave him a look that said otherwise. “You’re not the worst—” She thought for a moment before choosing her next words. “You’re just not making the best decisions right now for some reason. What’s going on?”

Parker could hear the growing concern in her voice. He thought carefully before responding to her. “I don’t know.”

She could tell from his answer that he truly didn’t know what was wrong. They sat in front of the fire for a little while without saying anything. Monty had stirred and was awake and running around. Alexis scooted closer to Parker, even though she wasn’t entirely happy with him at the moment.

It was a mixture of frustration and worry that pulled her to him at that moment. She wanted nothing more than to be able to help him out, she just didn’t know how. “Is there anything I can do?” she asked in a concerned voice.

He thought for a moment without speaking. “When I figure out what it is, I’ll let you know.” With that, he walked down the boys corridor wrapped in guilt. He knew it wasn’t fair to be so short with Alexis. It wasn’t her fault. He didn’t know whose fault it even was but he knew it definitely wasn’t fair to her. However, for some reason, he couldn’t stop himself.

As he grabbed the doorknob to their room, he was suddenly sitting on the sofa again. He looked around confused. When it dawned on him he huffed. “Stop that!”

“Master Sora told me to practice, and we’re not done with our conversation.” Alexis tensed her body and Parker knew he shouldn’t push it. “I don’t know what’s going on with you lately,” she said in an annoyed, motherly tone. “All I want to do is help you,” Alexis said.

“Well, I don’t know how you can,” he retorted.

She looked at him concerned, unsure of anything she could do. All she wanted was to help him but how could she if he didn’t even know what was wrong? Alexis reached her hand out to comfort him, but she could tell that he didn’t want it.

They both sat staring at each other for a while. No one said anything, there was nothing more to really say. Alexis could see Parker getting more upset the longer they sat there.

“What?” Parker snapped out of nowhere.

“Nothing… just go to bed!”

“What did I do now?” Parker shouted. Flames erupted from the fireplace knocking them both over. Neither of them were hurt, but at the same time, Alexis started to cry. Flashbacks to the last time he burned her raced through her mind. Fear flooded her body as the old burn on her neck seemed to heat up immensely. She didn’t move, lying still on the floor, when Parker got up and walked down the boys’ corridor and slammed the door behind him.

——

Days came and went. Parker’s mood grew worse and worse. Nothing anyone did helped out in any way. The masters got together with Alexis, Caleb and Hailee to try and find some way that they could help.

No one could figure out what had changed. Their daily routines hadn’t altered. Nothing they could think of would have caused such a drastic change in behavior.

“Maybe it’s the Aether finals coming up?” Caleb suggested, making a stab in the dark.

“No… he loves Aether. That’s like the one thing that always brings his mood up.” Alexis thought hard as to what else might be causing it. She wanted her friend back.

“You know, I’m right here,” Parker stated. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

Caleb stared at him, still trying to think of something. “If there was nothing wrong, you wouldn’t be such a jerk.”

“I’m not a jerk!” Parker yelled at him. Caleb could see the expression on his face look shocked at his own outburst. “Sorry—” Parker said, not wanting to apologize for anything.

“Let’s go through everything that has happened.” Hailee listed off everything that had happened over the course of their school year. Everyone listened intently, trying to catch something that might explain the personality change.

Time passed very slowly for Parker as he sat there, waiting for them to catch what was “wrong” with him. It felt like personal attacks from all his friends making his mood grow even worse than it was. He was completely aware that there was something wrong with him, just not sure what it could be or how to fix it.

“That’s it!” Alexis shouted with joy.

“What is?” Parker asked snidely.

“Master Terra! He had to have done something to you.” Everyone’s faces lit up, positive that it had to be something the deranged master had done.

Master Sora looked at Parker with a worried expression etched onto his face. “Do you remember anything that he did?”

Parker shook his head and then tried to think harder for anything that he might remember. “No—just what we talked about—and then I was knocked out again and woke up in the field.” He scowled at the memory. “What do you think he did to me?”

Everyone shook their heads, not sure what to tell him. They weren’t there, there was no way to know without asking Master Terra himself. And no one had seen him since the incident, nor did they think he’d make another appearance.

——

The next few days dragged by like molasses. They spent hours every day trying to think of what Master Terra could have done to Parker.

Slowly, his mood improved little by little. Alexis was spending as much time with him as possible. She wanted to both try and cheer him up while also keeping a close eye on him. The last thing anyone wanted was for another situation like Caleb on the roof happening again.

It was time for the finals of the Aether season which helped Parker’s mood significantly. Aether was about the only thing that really helped lift his spirits.

Parker walked onto the field with the rest of the team at his side. Alexis held his hand until they entered the field, but it didn’t feel the same as it had before. Cassidy and Claire were cracking jokes about The House of Kenna team. Finn and Clay were messing with Emma, trying to get her nerves under control as the game was about to begin.

Their hearts were racing. The last thing, at that moment, that anyone wanted was for them to lose this match.

Parker watched Marianna walked onto the field, shoulders held high and a sharp glint of victory already in her eyes. He squinted, staring at her, knowing exactly what this game meant to her. It was her last Aether match of all time. He also knew that he had to do everything he could in order to stop her. If she made it onto their side of the field, he wasn’t sure that the others would be able to stop her.

Marianna’s team filed in behind her, showing the same level of confidence that she did. Parker felt like he wasn’t doing a good enough job getting his team excited for this match.

Alexis met eyes with Lena and immediately felt intimidated merely by her confidence. Alexis knew she was a great defender but from the looks of it, The House of Kenna was not going to be losing this match.

The team huddled up and Parker took charge trying to pump the team up. After a moment, he paused and looked at Cassidy. “Sorry—”

“Don’t be, you’re rocking it!” she said laughing.

“All right! Let’s do this! Hands in.” Parker put his hand out and everyone piled theirs’ on top. He counted to three and they all cheered and ran to their positions.

Alexis leaned toward the ball at the center of the field. Marianna walked up to her, shoulders held high and her chest puffed out. Master Kingston walked up to the both of them with her whistle in hand.

“This is the finals of the Aether season. The winner of this match will be this year’s Aether Champion!” Master Kingston’s voice was filled with excitement. “Good luck to you both,” she said. The master took a step back and blew her whistle as hard as she could.

Alexis backpedaled quickly predicting Marianna’s aggressive rush forward. She looked silly flailing her arms around to push someone that wasn’t there. Alexis ducked low and kicked in a sweeping motion hitting the ball out from under Marianna.

Cassidy sprinted forward and caught the ball then rolled it in front of her. She moved swiftly across the centerline where Parker knocked their blocker out of the way. Cassidy gave him a quick smile as she sprinted past with the ball. Ana came up on her side followed closely behind by Alexis.

They formed a triangle as the shooters from The House of Kenna tried to move in. Parker and Clay were quick to catch up and help get them to the goal. The three girls passed the ball back and forth as quickly as they could, making the goalie shift left and right, not sure where the shot was going to come from.

Ana took a big kick and missed the ball. The goalie started to laugh, slightly distracting her from what was happening. Alexis moved quickly behind Ana and kicked the ball as hard as she could. The goalie noticed at the last second what was happening and barely got a hand on the ball, sending it into the moat at the edge of the field.

“I thought we had her!” Alexis shouted to Ana. Ana shrugged and took off toward the ball. The other team had it and was tearing off across the field. The shooter passed the ball to Marianna, who promptly took charge, barreling through Ana and Claire.

The only one standing between Marianna and her goal was Emma. Marianna popped the ball into the air. Emma stared at it, making sure there were no tricks that Marianna could pull. There was no way she was letting this ball get into the goal.

It seemed like the ball was suspended in midair, just waiting for something to happen to it. Emma couldn’t figure out what was happening. Ready for Marianna to shoot, she nearly fell over when she saw Marianna turn her back to the ball.

“Wha—” was all Emma could get out before the center of the castle lit up like a bonfire on a pitch black night. She hadn’t even see the ball go past her into the goal.

The teams huddled up before play continued. “What happened?” Parker asked. “I couldn’t see anything.”

Everyone looked back and forth at each other. No one had an answer because no one had seen how they scored the goal.

“All right, let’s step it up. We can’t let them score and put all of the pressure on us.” Cassidy cheered at Parker’s words. “Let’s go with Plan 23!” Everyone put their hands in the middle and shouted as they ran to their positions. The whistle blew and everyone scattered in different directions.

The House of Kenna watched as Parker and his team ran around the field in no particular direction. They couldn’t figure out what they were doing but Marianna took the ball and ran towards the goal. She kept a keen eye open, looking for them to do something but from the looks of it, they’d lost their minds.

As Marianna got closer to the goal, she was swarmed in an instant by the three shooters and two blockers. Before she knew it, she’d been laid out, flat on her back heaving for air.

Alexis took off down the field, weaving between their shooters and dodging their attackers. She passed the ball to Ana who passed it straight to Cassidy. Cassidy ran forward and lobbed the ball through the air.

Parker jumped up, spinning rapidly by the ball causing it to spin just as quickly. He soared past it and landed on the field. Alexis jumped behind him and kicked the ball as hard as she could. The ball spun through the air in a large arc, curving into the corner of the goal.

The center of the castle lit up a blinding white light. A roaring applause rang down from above as everyone retook their positions. Parker signaled for everyone to try the same plan again.

As everyone went off in their meaningless directions, Marianna caught on quickly and knew what was coming. Right as she was about to be bombarded again, she stopped and ducked as her closest blocker sent a raging inferno through the air that almost set fire to the entire defensive line for The House of Erion.

While everyone was reeling from the fire, Marianna quickly snuck the ball into the goal causing the field to glow a bright red. Another roaring applause came from above.

The next few hours felt very similar as both teams went back and forth scoring. Parker figured at some point soon the crowd was going to lose their enthusiasm and just pray for it to be over. He knew that everyone on his team had to be exhausted.

Everyone took their positions, heaving for air. The scoreboard read, in bright numbers, “Erion 13 - Kenna 14”. Master Kingston blew the whistle for the twenty-eighth time that game and something different happened.

No one moved. Each of the players stared at the ball, waiting for someone to make a move. The last several points had gone to the team that had to defend first so no one wanted to touch the ball.

Master Kingston looked around, trying to figure out what was happening. It’s not like this was the longest game there had been. However, everyone was making it seem like they’d been on the field for days without any breaks or drinks.

Parker looked at the players on his side of the field and decided to make a move. He pulled at the ball as if a rope were tied around it. The ball jumped towards him and his shooters took off after it.

Before the others could react, the castle lit up white again, bringing the score to a tie, yet again. Master Kingston’s whistle rang loud throughout the field. “Everyone, take a ten minute break. Get some water, rest for a moment and be ready to go when the whistle blows again.

Parker’s team made their way over to the benches that were set up on the field for them. Sweat poured down his forehead, his shirt was completely drenched and he was struggling to catch his breath. It had been awhile since he’d been in such a long and exhausting match.

He could tell that everyone was feeling it at this point. No one really wanted to go back out on the field and keep going. Parker looked to every member of his team and then let out a huge sigh.

“Are we ready?” he asked, even though he knew everyone’s answer. They all just glared at him for a brief second and then started to laugh when they saw the grin on his face. He knew he had to try and bring some level of enjoyment or entertainment into it at this point, otherwise the match would definitely go downhill.

The rest of the break was spent in silence. Everyone tried to simply catch their breath and psych themselves up to get back on the field. Once they had returned to their positions, Master Kingston made her way back to the center.

Parker couldn’t think of any more plays that they could try at this point. They’d exhausted their playbook several points ago. He looked at the master as she was about to blow her whistle and could tell that she was ready for this to be over as well. Looking around, he could tell that just about everyone was ready for this to be over.

The whistle blew and cheering from above gave everyone the energy to keep going. Marianna sprinted forward with the ball juggling between her feet. Her two shooters followed up close behind and her attackers out in front to clear a path. Claire and Finn moved in quickly and swept out the shooters from behind her and sent them sprawling into the moat.

One of the attackers shot a blast of fire directly at Claire’s face. Luckily she reacted just in time and fell backwards so the fire flew over the top of her. From her spot on the ground, she spun in a breakdance like move, sending whips of air out in every direction making Marianna fall forward onto the ball and take a hard bounce to the ground.

The ball popped out from under her and off to the side. Emma ran forward and kicked the ball as hard as she could away to keep them from scoring. Cassidy took chase after the ball and was met with an intense heat coming from behind. Before she could react though, she was sent to the ground by a blast of air.

Parker was standing at the centerline waiting for her to get there. He had sent a blast of air, knocking her over to keep her from being burnt. “You’re welcome!” he yelled as he watched the ball splash into the moat near the centerline.

“Couldn’t you have just blasted the fire so that I could keep running?” she yelled back from the ground. He shrugged his response while keep his eye on the ball. Cassidy got to her feet and started to chase after the ball again. Alexis and Ana were by her side now, protected closely from behind by Claire and Finn.

Ana scooped the ball out of the moat and ran down the field with it between her hands. They were about halfway to the goal and she tossed the ball over to Alexis. As she caught it, the three of them broke off in different directions; Ana to the right, Cassidy to the left, and Alexis dead center.

Alexis dropped the ball to her feet and kicked it to Ana. The goalie mimed the motion of the ball, keeping herself in between it and the goal. As the ball got to Ana, she stabbed her toes under it and lobbed the ball across the field to Cassidy who jump kicked the ball into the back of the net.

The level of applause and cheering from above made them feel like the castle was going to crumble. They were up by one now, Parker almost couldn’t keep the joy in at that point. There wasn’t a moment in the match so far where they had had the lead.

A quick huddle allowed Cassidy to congratulate everyone on a great job. “Only two more and this is ours!” They went back to their positions and fought aggressively for the ball when the whistle blew. A new energy had grown on the field after they took the lead and Parker was pretty sure there was no way they could lose now.

After twenty minutes of hard battle on the field, The House of Erion was one point from winning the Aether Championship. Parker took his position, hoping it was the last time he would have to. The whistle blew once more and everyone erupted with a new level of energy.

The House of Erion fans could’ve been heard all across the mountain side. Parker was pretty sure that Gia and Leith students were all cheering for them as well.

The ball rolled across the grass as Marianna sprinted after it, hip-checking anyone that came near. She wasn’t prepared to let them win this match. Charging toward the goal, Claire and Finn burst onto the scene and whipped her feet out from under her.

“This is our last match too!” Claire yelled as she kicked the ball out to Cassidy who took off down the field.

When she got to the centerline, Parker took over making sure that no one came from the right side while Clay kept the left clear. They worked their way toward the goal as Alexis and Ana caught up from behind.

The blockers moved in and Parker made a long jump and swept their feet out from under them. As they were floating in midair, about to crash to the field, Clay made a running jump kick toward them, blasting them into the wall with enough force to make the crowd above gasp.

Their path to the goal was now unobstructed. The three shooters passed the ball around as fast as they could. Alexis could see the eyes of the goalie bounce back and forth as she followed the ball. When the ball landed at her feet, she popped it up a little so that it would bounce and then Cassidy kicked the ball at the corner of the goal.

The goalie got her fingertips on the ball, keeping it from rolling in but as it bounced away, there was no one from her team to get it. She tried to get back up on her feet to block the next shot but Ana was too quick.

Ana gave the ball a nice, gentle bunt just over the goalie’s reach. The center of the castle erupted in a white blaze as the entire House of Erion stormed the field, grabbing every player and lifting them into the air.