It was rare for a new student to arrive at Virel Academy mid-semester.
But Elara wasn't just any student.
"Transferred from the Northern Lunar Institute," Professor Orin announced to the entire class. "Specialized in advanced aquatic harmony."
Aria looked up.
Elara had hair dark as midnight, eyes the color of a winter lake, and a smile that seemed woven from calm itself.
When their eyes met, Elara gave a gentle nod.
"I've heard so much about you, Aria of the Tidal Lineage."
A murmur rippled through the room.
Irish, at the back, clenched her jaw.
Of course. Of course she already knows who Aria is.
What no one expected was that Elara would sit beside Aria the next day.
"Orin said we should train together," she explained, setting her scrolls on the desk. "Your water technique is… elegant. I'd like to learn."
Aria, surprised, nodded.
"If you want to learn, stop treating water like music and start seeing it as current."
"Then teach me," Elara said, never losing her smile.
And so it began.
They practiced together in the Mist Garden.
Shared notes in Ancient Runes class.
Even ate at the same table in the dining hall.
All innocent. All proper.
Too perfect.
"You look happy," Lien said one day as Aria adjusted a fountain's flow with Elara.
"It's not happiness," Aria replied. "It's focus."
"Sure," Lien murmured. "That's why you smile when she walks into the room."
Aria didn't answer.
But that night, as she passed Pyra Wing, she didn't search for Irish with her eyes.
For the first time in weeks, she didn't care if Irish saw her… or who she was with.
Irish, meanwhile, pretended indifference.
"Another water princess?" Kael said, watching Elara walk with Aria toward the library. "Looks like your rival already found a replacement."
"She's not my rival," Irish snapped. "And I don't need replacements."
"Then why did you extinguish your flames when you saw them together today?"
"I didn't!"
"Yes, you did. Three times."
Irish didn't speak to Kael for two days.
But the worst wasn't that.
It was during Elemental Combat class, when Orin announced:
"Free pairing today."
Aria turned… and walked straight to Elara.
"Shall we practice?"
"I'd be delighted."
Irish froze.
Mira glanced at her, worried.
"It's not what you think."
"I'm not thinking anything," Irish said flatly. "I just hate that Aria acts like we never existed."
During the match, Aria and Elara moved in perfect sync—fluid, precise, harmonious.
Water and more water.
Calm. Control. Balance.
No chaos. No fire.
Nothing of Irish.
"See?" Elara said, smiling. "We're made to work together."
Aria didn't reply.
But she didn't correct her.
That night, Irish trained harder than ever.
Her flames burned red, furious, nearly black at the core.
Ren approached, holding a water bottle.
"It's not healthy to burn from the inside."
"I'm not burning," Irish said. "I'm just training."
"Then why does your fire become unstable every time Aria walks by with Elara?"
Irish hurled a fireball at the ground.
"I don't care!"
"You're lying. Just like you lie when you say you don't care that Aria looks at her the way she used to look at you."
Silence.
"She didn't look at me like that," Irish muttered.
"She did. And you looked at her the same way."
"That was… rivalry."
"And now?"
"Now…" Irish clenched her fists. "Now it's worse. Because if Aria chooses her…
"What?"
"It means everything between us… never meant anything."
Ren said nothing.
He just left the bottle and walked away.
But Irish didn't drink.
Because in that moment,
water tasted like betrayal.
The next day, in the courtyard, Elara approached Irish.
"Hi. I wanted to introduce myself. I'm Elara."
Irish looked her up and down.
"I already know who you are."
"Aria speaks well of you."
"Then she's lying."
"I don't think so. She says you're… unpredictable. Brilliant."
Irish tensed.
"Tell her she doesn't need to talk about me."
"Why? Does it bother you that we talk about you?"
"It bothers me that you're pretending to be her friend just to get close to the Tidal Lineage."
"I'm not pretending," Elara said seriously. "But if it hurts that Aria talks to me… maybe you should ask yourself why."
Irish didn't answer.
But that night, when she saw Aria and Elara laughing beneath the moon in the Mist Garden,
she didn't extinguish her flames.
She let them burn.
Because for the first time,
she preferred the pain of fire… to the silence of being forgotten.