Trophy in hand, Cameras facing the front and team by her side — Team Starlight took their first photo together with a victory glimmering in the award. After the shot, some of the group, like Roy and Deveron, went on to be interviewed by the press. Heidi had to stay with Roy just in case he said something crazy — As for the trophy, Reynolds went to place it in the van. Cheveyo followed along with him. On the other hand, Alexia was told to not interact with the media for reasons Reynolds never specified. Likely due to not wanting the other states to get more information on her.
Escaping from the press wasn’t easy, but she somehow managed to run into Abigail in the process.
“My, My. If it isn’t the little star. You put on quite the spectacle. Congratulations are in order.”
Time froze in place as a hand placed itself onto Alexia’s shoulder. Turning to face the familiar voice, she realized it was Abby. Was the energy she felt outside of the machine hers?
“A-Abby? Right? Mrs.Abby?” Alexia noticed Abby’s stomach but didn’t question it. At first, she hesitated, similar to their first meeting, but this time there was no sense of unease. Nor any hostility extruding from Abigail — despite everyone around the two now frozen in place, Alexia wasn’t concerned, only curious as to this singularity Abigail was capable of performing. The ability to stop time itself was unheard of, although this came from the one that could easily alter the elements and conjure stars.
“That is correct, child. I see you heeded my words. Had fun?”
“I was confused at first, but the more I kept fighting, the more thrilling it became. Vastly different than anything Roy and Heidi could throw at me.”
Abigail let out a soft chuckle. “I’m happy to hear that, keep that sense of excitement close, it'll drive you forward.” Abigail moved her hand down towards Alexia’s arm, grabbing hold of their suppressor.
“And what do we have here? I don’t recall giving this device out to anyone…” It took them a moment to think of the possibilities, then it clicked. “Oh! Reynolds is quite the trickster.” Alexia tried to move away from Abigail, but her strength was useless against their grip. Abby began to rummage through the experimental suppressor gathering the data from within.
“I’ll allow his little experiment to continue since you’ve followed along willingly, perhaps I'll help you out in the process.” Tapping one of the side slots of the suppressor, a tiny chip extended out of it. Red in coloration and looking a bit rusted at this point, Abigail reached into their pocket. Taking out a similar-looking chip, only it was blue and looked brand new as if they just conjured it up out of thin air. Abigail stood back to watch Alexia, slapping the blue-chip into the suppressor and taking the red out.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doi-” Immediately, Alexia felt sick on her stomach, almost expecting to gag and throw up whatever she had for lunch today, but it never came up. The unsettling feeling she had back in July returned — The feeling of sickness that was rare for a singularity user creeping up on her once more.
“Your body reacted quickly. Normally it takes a person a couple of hours, yet here you are…” Abigail watched Alexia closely, keeping an eye on the suppressor itself. “Already adjusting to the suppression.”
A low cackling emitted from Abigail, it, however, did not turn into a fit of laughter; this would be the 7th time in their life they’d come across someone like Alexia. “Alright, well, that is my gift to you. Your suppressor is much stronger now. I look forward to seeing how much you’ll change by the time the nationals get here.”
Abigail waved her hand over Alexia, but Abby had vanished by the time she looked up to see. Time resumed, as usual, Alexia quickly stood up, beginning to walk away, covering her mouth with one of their hands. She attempted to keep her distance from the media and any new fans she might have acquired from the tournaments. Despite her sickness, Alexia avoided any entanglements with a crowd or media making their way towards the van.
Just when things appeared to be clear, Alexia bumped straight into Pearl, who was making her way out of the building as well.
“Do watch where you’re going, Little Star. Though, I suppose I can’t blame thou, the flock of the crowd is hard to get away from.”
Pearl moved back a bit, brushing off her uniform.
“Sorry… I just don’t feel great right now is all.” Alexia weakly leaned up against the wall, slowly regaining her energy.
“Does thou need medical assistance? Or did those medics give you a wrong dosage of energy?” Pearl looked concerned, but upon closer examination, Alexia saw Pearl herself look paler; it suited their gothic look more in all honesty.
“I...I’m fine, what about you?”
Pearl was a bit surprised at Alexia being concerned about her, but they merely gave them a soft smile.
“As thou are, I'm fine also. Physically you’re not, I am. Mentally I'm not, and thou are.” Alexia noticed Pearl's manner of speech was a bit sharper, at least to her, compared to how she spoke throughout the entire tournament.
“Please speak like a normal human being.”
“I was right, it seems. Though, one must take care of how they speak towards another. It seems thou…” Pearl stopped speaking, calmly readjusting their manners. “ You are fine. Would you like me to take you to Reynolds? I need to speak to him soon, anyway.”
“...I don’t need assistance, but sure you may come along.”
“I’ve heard rumors of a blonde child getting lost. At first, I didn’t think it to be true or rather didn’t pay it much mind, but the security feed didn’t lie.”
“I don’t get lost!”
“You spent the past three days, simply marking down where the restroom was. Perhaps, thou should be more honest with oneself.”
The two continued out of the building with their conversation. Alexia became more annoyed at the jabs being poked at her, while Pearl enjoyed herself. Only then, their conversation was cut short by Reynolds.
“I see you two are getting along nicely?” Reynolds asked, surprised at Pearl being the one leading Alexia out to the Van.
“Quite. Though, I was merely explaining that she gets lost easily.” Letting out a small chuckle, Pearl patted Alexia on the shoulder before walking off with a yawn. “I look forward to your progress.” Her speech altered back to normal, no longer putting on an act.
Seconds after Pearl walked away, Roy, Heidi, and Deveron arrived, ready to head back home. These last three days were rough on each of them in different ways.
“Deveron’s fan base increased more than mine. Way to steal my spotlight.” Roy opened the Van doors, getting in only to realize Cheveyo was in the back resting. Getting ahead of himself, Roy grabbed the Trophy, intending to hold it until they returned to the school.
“Believe me when I say this, you didn’t have any light to shine on anyway.” Deveron got in the back as well, adjusting his suppressor. Heidi sat next to Roy, making sure he didn’t break the trophy.
Reynolds got into the van with Alexia getting into the front also. He had gotten used to the team's banter among all of them; it was okay for them to poke fun at each other for now. “Keep the burns to yourselves. We’re heading home.”
“Yes, sir!” Heidi responded.
“Yeah, Yeah.” Deveron stopped antagonizing Roy.
“No worries, It’ll take more than that to break me!”
Alexia had been fixated on her suppressor similar to Deveron when entering the Van. Her body had gotten used to the new pressure being continuously exerted. When she moved to rub her head and adjust her hair, Alexia noticed a few strands of hair falling out.
Uh oh. Gripping the strands, was it stress building up? She didn’t grip too hard, did she? The team drove off, finally returning to their homes.
When Alexia walked through her home's doors, an exhausted breath of air left her body, only for her to simply head to her room. Immediately, looking into a mirror, she noticed the area where she removed her hair started to fade in coloration. Was it some new illness? She didn’t enjoy that each time the bracelet she wore kept updating to her body's power. The old models never had such a feature; anyone sane would get rid of it when they knew their body couldn’t handle the conditions.
In particular, the spot was the bangs on her left side, which looked to be turning white. How could this be?! Is this normal for someone as young as me to have white hair?! Her mind mumbled together at the sight. The next day she’d go on an internet spree looking for more information.
