“Oh. You’re here.” Carlos said, noticing Wren sprawled out on his bed.

“I am.” Wren replied evenly.

Carlos and Liam both stepped into the room and went to their respective sides of the room. They weren’t exactly friendly with each other that morning so Wren wondered what they were doing together.

Evening had come and the twin suns had begun to set, casting the room in a warm orange hue.

“I apologise for my behaviour this morning. If I knew the two of you were so talented then I wouldn’t have spoken as callously as I did.” Carlos said.

They were all in the same class so he had witnessed both Liam and Wren during the day’s testing.

“It’s no bother. I’m used to it.” Wren said.

“Very well.” Carlos said.

An awkward silence filled the room as both Liam and Carlos were changing from their grey robes into their sleepwear.

“How are you feeling?” Liam asked Wren. “You were pretty out if it on the walk back to campus.”

“A lot better to be fair. Bit of quiet and rest does a world of good.” He replied.

Carlos gave them both looks of confusion.

“What happened after I left? Was it combat drills or something?” He asked.

Wren and Liam shared a look. Questioning amongst themselves whether or not to reveal the events of the last two tests to their roommate. Wren shrugged his shoulders, he was too tired to care. If Liam wanted to fill Carlos in on what happened it was no bother to him. He would probably learn to use his abilities soon enough anyway so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

“Wren was suffering from a bit of elemental depletion.” Liam told Carlos.

“Ohhhh, that’s unfortunate. I’ve heard that its quite the terrible experience.” He replied.

Wren suddenly sat straight up in his bed. The sudden movement making him groan.

“Wait, you guys know about it?” He asked the two boys.

Carlos turned to him, a smug smile creeping across his face.

“Of course we do. We are Legacies after all.”

Wren face palmed. He’d known they were both Legacies from the beginning, Liam had told him in the awakening centre that his father was an elemental, and from they way that Carlos knew about Chadwick, it only made sense for him to be a Legacy too. He was completely new to being an elemental, but his two roommates weren’t, they had a plethora of knowledge from their parents that Wren could use to find his bearings.

“Is there any way to lesson the effects of elemental depletion?” Wren asked the pair.

Carlos looked pensive. He raised a hand to his chin in a thinking pose and racked his brain.

“Not exactly. The initial stages of elemental depletion are really dangerous, you can pass out or go in—”

“Into a coma, yeah, yeah I know.” Wren cut in. “Lucky me.” He raised his arms in the air, throwing up a pair of jazz hands to indicate his sarcasm.

“But, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, there is a way to accelerate recovery afterwards.” Carlos continued.

“Oh yeah. My dad told me about that once. There’s a method of meditation that can speed up your recovery.” Liam said.

“WHAT!? And you tell me this now? Why didn’t you tell me about this on the way back? Did you not see the part where I was aching my ass off?” Wren exclaimed.

Liam blushed. It was a strange combination, his muscly hulking frame and the innocent sheepish expression across his face. He rubbed the back of his head and let out a soft laugh.

“To be completely honest, I forgot. Also, that’s all I know, that it’s about meditation, maybe you know more Carlos?” Liam asked, turning to the boy.

He’d just finished changing into his sleepwear. It was strange, even his sleep clothes were ironed to perfection, as if he’d spent hours on them. The boy must have ironed all his clothes the minute he received them. He’d even tucked the shirt into the trousers, Wren didn’t know anyone who dressed that well for sleep.

“I do not I’m afraid, I believe it’s a very advanced technique, I highly doubt we’ll even learn it in our first year.” He replied. “Speaking of, I heard something interesting at the cafeteria earlier.”

“Speaking of, what was tonight’s menu at the cafeteria Liam?” Wren said, settling back down so he was once again horizontal on his bed.

“I was saying something.” Carlos complained.

“No one cares Carlos. Liam?” Wren said.

“There’s no need to be like that Wren. It was Cloud Buffalo steak this evening actually, really good.” Liam replied. He noticed Carlos giving both him and Wren a peeved stare. “Sorry Carlos, you were saying?”

“I’ll let that one slide because of my behaviour this morning.” He warned Wren. “I heard the second years will be joining us next week, apparently they always come back a week after the first years arrive.”

“Oh really? I wonder what they’re like.” Liam said to himself.

“I only mention it so that you can prepare yourself.” Carlos said, pointing a long spindly finger at Wren.

“Me? Why me?” He asked.

“Well you seem to have a habit of getting into trouble if I recall. Your argument with Chadwick, your fight with Chadwick, the cheating.”

“I DIDN’T CHEAT!” Wren shouted.

Carlos raised his hands in surrender, not expecting that reaction out of the lackadaisical boy. He looked over at Liam in askance, wondering what the reason was for such an aggressive response.

“It’s a bit of a sore subject for him.” Liam whispered.

“That may be the case, but that’s not what everyone else thinks.” Carlos said back to Wren.

“I don’t care what everyone thinks.” Wren mumbled. “What does it matter anyway, why would I get in trouble with any of the second years?” Wren said, louder this time.

“I’m not worried about most of the second years. Just the one.” Carlos said.

“Who?”

“Chadwick’s older brother. The highest ranked elemental in the academy.”

Authors Note: Sorry for the late upload! Bit of an update, the patreon is now fully ten chapters ahead, I fell behind on that a little bit (shame on me), and we also have a cover in the works which should be coming in the next few weeks, so very exciting. But as always, thanks for reading and catch you at the next chapter! :)