After school, we all met in the park. Ciela’s eyes were red, but she was carrying a second coat, most likely the one taken from her yesterday. We quickly introduced Lilli before gathering around a large rock.
“This should work.” Aiden nodded to himself. “Gwyneira--” he turned to me, but cut himself off. “Gwen, sit here and concentrate on the stone.”
I climbed onto the rock and sat cross-legged.
“So, what element are you?” Lilli asked Ciela. “Air or water?”
She wrinkled her nose in response. “I hope I’m not water. I can’t swim.”
“Don’t worry.” Aiden assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “The light blue stone is for air.”
Ciela’s eyes shone with excitement. “Can I fly?”
“I… don’t think so.” Aiden thought for a moment. “I haven’t read anything saying you can’t.”
“I’ll take it.” She giggled and sat on a cleared patch of grass in front of the rock. “So, where is it, Princess?”
I closed my eyes and took a breath to steady myself. I tried to remember the way Lilli’s stone had felt. The way it had pulled at my subconscious, calling for my attention. It had felt like a memory on the verge of being remembered, mixed with a low magnetic pull.
I could hear Dawn talking, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. Did I want to? Was it important?
A light breeze blew past, but it didn’t lift my hair. Instead, it grabbed my attention, pulling it toward town. I moved to follow it. When I reached the edge of the park, I noticed that I wasn’t really walking with it. My body was still back on the rock.
The breeze pulled at me again and I stepped onto the sidewalk. Every few steps, I got another nudge from the breeze. I was soon walking among family homes and realized I was only a couple blocks from my own house.
The breeze picked up some snow and created a small cyclone in front of a house. I studied it, making sure I’d be able to find it again. The moment I felt I had it, I was snapped back to the park.
Dawn and Lilli were talking in hushed voices a little way off while Ciela built a small snowman beside her foot. Aiden was looking at me intently, apparently waiting for a verdict.
“I might have something.” I told them. “A house. That way.” I pointed down the street.
“Then let’s go!” Ciela clamored to her feet, knocking the head off her snowman in the process. She ran to the edge of the park and turned down the street.
Aiden ran after her. “Wait! You don’t know where you’re going!”
Dawn laughed and grabbed my hand before running after them. Lilli jogged past us and Dawn narrowed her eyes.
“This isn’t a competition.” I told her when she increased her speed.
We followed mostly the same path I’d taken out of my body, but Ciela took a few back roads since she wouldn’t slow down to let me lead. When we finally reached the house, she ran past it and Aiden had to drag her back.
“This is it!” She said excitedly, hopping up and down. “It’s so exciting.”
“What are you going to say?” Lilli asked. “All of the other stones are on the tiara. We can’t exactly show them as an example.”
“How many smooth, light blue stones are there?” Dawn asked as she reached out and rang the doorbell. “It’s not a common description.”
“And how do we explain why we think it’s here?” Aiden pointed out.
“Gwen’s psychic.” Ciela suggested.
The door opened, and a girl looked down at us from the porch. “Can I help you?”
“River?” Aiden’s surprised tone made me look closer at the girl. It was when I saw the blue streak in her black hair that I recognised the student body president.
“We’re wondering if you could help us.” Ciela started when no one else spoke.
River glanced at her, but quickly fixed her attention on Aiden. “What do you need?”
He looked to me for an explanation. “A decorative stone.” I said. I could feel my face heating up. “Light blue. Impeccably smooth and round. Probably set into a necklace. Have you seen it.”
River narrowed her eyes, but after a moment, she sighed. “Wait here.” She closed the door. A minute later, it opened again. “Here.”
She handed me a cord that held a wire cocoon. In the wires sat the stone we were looking fore.
“That’s it!” Ciela cried excitedly. “That’s my mom’s necklace!”
“Your mom’s?” River rubbed the back of her neck. “I got it at a craft show. Did your mom make it?”
“No.” Ciela explained what had happened.
River quickly took the necklace from me and pushed it into Ciela’s hands. “Here.” She said again. “I don’t want anything that was stolen. I only bought it because it matched the one I got from my uncle.”
“You have a stone like this, too?” Ciela grinned. “Awesome!” She turned to me. “Gwen, she has one, too!”
I saw River blush and guessed we were making her uncomfortable. “I think we should get going. Thanks River.” I added as we walked away.
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