Three

Hibis was awoken from her dreamless sleep because of a discomfort in her chest. She groggily rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, mind fuzzy. Something about last night seemed to stick with her brain…she just couldn’t remember what.

As Hibis stretched to glance at herself in the mirror, a yellow note perched onto the brass frame came into her view. That was curious, her mother never let notes for her when she went to work. Hibis reached forward to touch the paper, grasping it between her fingers and reading it out loud, “Sorry about yesterday. Lost my mind. Meet up again? Only if you want to give me a second chance.. Sad face.”

All that happened the day before rushed back to her, like a wave of nostalgia. A small smile appeared on her face as she re-read Ace’s apology note. Somehow, despite having known him for less than an hour, she could hear his apologetic tone in it. Pursing her lip, she contemplated paying the address a visit.

A clear image of her timetable said yep, she was. After all, the thought of activating and controlling her elements sure sounded enticing.

~

As Hibis skied the skyscraper of Captial Jevin, casually overlooking the clouds and how tiny her apartment was situated below, she wondered if the other people in their dream… she wondered if they had powers, or elements too. She shook her head. She was about to get several migraines from all her thinking. Best not do so now.

As Hibis finally reached the top of the building, the sharp winds caught her off guard. She gasped as she felt a gust nearly throw her off the edge. As if attaching herself to the floor with her shoes, the sudden thumps in her heart increased and she inhaled loudly.

“So…where is the place I was supposed to meet them…?” She quickly fished out her note and scanned through it once more, hopelessly gripping onto it to prevent it from flying. She was at the right place.

Hibis looked around, only to spot a shed, a rickety one, with several holes in the wood walls. It looked fragile, yet had not toppled down despite the rough weather. She couldn’t understand the physics of how it wasn’t budging the the winds.

“Uhm, hello?” She yelled out, hoping someone could hear her. “I, I’m Hibis and I was supposed to meet uhm, uh, Ace?”

Silence.

She frowned, wondering how she had ended up like this. How disappointing, why had Ace asked to meet here, thousands of feet above the group with only a shed situated on top? As she stood there wondering, the wind seemed to whisper in her ear, a muttering she felt as though it was just a silent thought. Hibis obeyed what it said, for everything in reality was not what she imagined it to be, after all.

“Perform your element,” the feminine voice in the wind had muttered. Hibis flicked her hands with no hesitation, and rapidly enough, forming a figure eight as she slowly rises up into the sky. She felt breathless as the wind seemed to swirl around her, never knocking her off but sending her cascade of hair everywhere.

“Ah, so you’re Hibis.”

A voice caught her off-guard and she yelped from surprise, stopping her figure eight and falling to the floor with a thud. She groaned, rubbing at her back as she opened her eyes. The soft rubbing feeling of the wind had vanished and right in front of her was a boy, rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose as sparkling green eyes stared at her in concern with his hand reaching out towards her in a beckon for the girl to grab it.

Hibis recognised him immediately. “You’re the one who can-”

“-become invisible, yes,” he smiled as the lad hoisted the girl up and watched her slowly dust herself off. “Pardon my interruption, but the name’s Vincent.”

Hibis frowned, her arms akimbo. “How long have you been watching me?” She asked, almost accusingly. Vincent chuckled, a laugh that eased the slight tension on Hibis’s shoulders. He shrugged to evade the question, then opened the “shack” to reveal a lift.

The boy examined Hibis as she blinked, slowly contemplating her next question while staring at the metallic lift, a contrast to its wooden cover. “Uhm…” she mumbled. “What happened to the wind?”

Vincent winked. “An asset of ours. Now come on,” he gestured to the lift, suggesting that she went first.

As Hibis entered, her eyes swept down in habit to press a level, only to see none of those buttons. Her eyes darted to Vincent, who was lounging in the corner, his head casually resting on the walls as if to brace for impact.

That made her realise, but it was too late to question the audacity as the lift flung itself down into abyss.

Her shrill screams echoed down the lift as they were flung into gravity, her gripping onto the railings that someone had graciously installed. Vincent even made a show of taking out ear buds and placing them in his ears, his grin placid. Must have done that a couple of times.

This really must be what free fall feels like.

Finally, as the lift descended to an eased stop, Hibis stumbled off, her face all mussed up with hair. “You’d get used to it, security measures and all,” Vincent assured Hibis, stifling a laugh at Hibis’s dazed face.

Once she got her head around her slight adventure and regained her demeanour, the girl looked up to be instantly filled with awe. The headquarters was amazing. Everywhere was marble tiled floors with the comfortable fluffy rugs situated around some corners. The bright ceiling was filled with golden sparks that fizzled and popped. In a corner was a crystal clear pool that had an orb spurting out water, and in the other side was a room that where several others were relaxing, refreshments in hand. It was like a replica of the world’s finest hotel.

“Nice, isn’t it?”

Hibis jumped, the voice from behind her sending jolts down her spine and she slipped from the surprise.

A pair of slender arms grabbed her, and spun her around, locking her into a tango stance.

Her partner was Ace, of course, smiling as his eyes swept a look at Hibis’s poor hairdo and shocked expression. "Glad you came," he said, straightening the girl up, ignoring the slight vibrating energy he felt from Hibis.

Hibis blushed pink. "Thanks."

"No problem. We don't have much time to chit chat, so let's start the tour,shall we?" He held out his forearm. Hibis felt puzzled by his gentlemen behaviours but decided not to argue. After all, last night's serious Ace wasn't exactly what she wanted on the first day of 'work'. Smiling graciously, she accepted.

Vincent scanned his schedule that seemed to appear out of nowhere. His eyes darted left and right before he found his time slots.“I need to go,enjoy your tour!” He waved and scampered off,blinking in and out of invisibility.

Have you forgiven me yet?

The thought had popped up so suddenly, she knew it wasn't hers one bit. She glanced sideeyed at Ace to see him grinning, already watching Hibis's reaction. "Did you just insert a thought into my head?" She exclaimed, narrowing her eyes.

Ace shrugged "I'm a Luna, aren't I?"

"Does that mean you have all the elements possible?"

"Uhm, well-"

He cleared his throat, then tugged at Hibis, launching them further into the headquarters. Hibis squealed at the sudden pull, her unanswered question forgotten. They trailed out of the first section of the headquarters-Lounge.

Lounge was what looked like a hotel,full of snacks and warmth. Training was where all the combat and learning happens, and Hibis was awestruck by the various elemented people training, hard.

As Hibis and Ace passed Scene,Hibis realised a white glacier panel that separated the section. “Why do you need to input that glass panel?” Hibis asked.

“If you step past you will come to an undisclosed window that shows you the scenic view,”Ace answered. “Though everybody knows that.”

Hibis released her arm from his, stepping away to stare at the lad. "Did you just called me dumb?"

Ace exhaled, checking his watch. "No, I just said that everyone should know that. It's common sense."

"It ain't."

"Is so."

A silent tension floated between the two. Hibis felt her anger seeping closer to the brim, for her charm for Ace was all mistaken.

Hibis turned swiftly, hoping to get away from looking at his face and blow of some steam, but Ace's hands reached out to catch her.

"If you expect me to keep catching you, go on with that attitude," Ace lashed out, his calm temper obviously gone.

Hibis, without a word, wretched her arm away and marched off. Stupid boy, she huffed to herself, I just came into your fantastical world which I had no idea existed and you expect me to know everything? She shook her head in fury. Ace was just asking too much.

Soon her fume turned into cluelessness as she began wandering about, away from the Scene into….into somewhere she didn’t know.

The eerie atmosphere creeped Hibis out, and a sudden chill crept up to her. She shivered, instantly regretting her outburst. She had barely met the boy for 2 days and they had already gotten into misfit. How horrible!

Hibis looked around aimlessly, wondering if she could get out of wherever she seemed to have stumbled into, when an X that was embodied on the door caught her eye. It situated itself at the end of a thin hallway, which the girl had no idea of until she accessed her surroundings. Despite watching those dozens of foreshadowing movies, Hibis couldn’t help but step forward without hesitation and enter the room.

A cold gust of wind washed over her as the girl took her first step.

Hibis felt herself walking into a mad scientist laboratory. The shelves were packed with glowing chemicals bubbling in glass tubes and vials, with several apparatus hanging halfway through an experiment. The room was barely lit by dark fluorescent bulbs, and Hibis had to rely on the glow from the potions to make her way around.

She carefully passed the broken glasses and dead animal cells, wading around, trying to find anything interesting, when a willowy substance caught her eye.

As she inched closer, the cloud-like liquid seemed to become a soul, dancing and flickering about. Just as Hibis was entranced by it, reaching out nimbly, something yanked her back, gagging her. The girl let out a muffled scream, clawing at the cloth, trying to kick whoever was behind her, but they were strong.

Grabbing Hibis’s waist to avoid her escaping, they firmed their grip on the cloth against her nose.

And then there was black.