Title: Fallen Glory

Rating: PG-13

Will Contain: violence, war, betrayal, teenage angst

Summary: Robinson Academy of the Arts is home to the most elite tutelage offered in the vicinity, as well as to some select students also known as Elements. As they continue trying to hide their magical abilities and just graduate, an old enemy from a war before their generation is building strength once again, leaving them no choice but to find each other and work together to take out this threat. But as unlikely as this group is, will they be able to do it?

Chapter 9 Autumn

I was loathe to part the car for several reasons. The feeling of immense pleasure I got from the wind against my face allowed me to forget about my troublesome sister for a while. So much that when the car stopped, I felt such a huge wave of disappointment. I had mostly ignored Claudia's glares by closing my eyes, but now I was forced to meet them again, in which I just gave her a pleasant smile. Silly insignificant girl thinking she could ever pose a threat to me.

But the worst reason by far to leave the car was that I had arrived at my house and now it was time to face my parents. I know that Mother and Father won't be pleased even in the slightest. They always have high expectations for me, but when it comes to my sister, the look of disappointment could not be clearer. Father gets so immensely frustrated with Summer, while my dear mother still thinks the best of her.

I don't understand why she has to be so self-absorbed that she can't see how she is destroying our parents with every ignorant motion she can take. Thus why I've long since given up on her and work to ease my parents' pain. At least one of their daughters can make them proud.

Inside our suburban home I hope that the TV is already on and they are watching the news so I don't have to bear the news myself. Instead I am greeted by the smells of Mother cooking dinner and the sight of my father relaxing in the recliner reading Timon of Athens. He prefers the classics.

Closing the door behind me, I stopped at the doorway uncertain of what to do. Stupid Summer forcing me to bear these news. My father looks up from his book, his thick rimmed glasses shielding his soft gray eyes. Being a Wind as well, Father and I look precisely alike, except that he keeps his bright silver hair short.

"What's wrong?"

"How can you tell something is wrong, Father?"

Marking the book, he closed it gently and placed it in his lap before reclining fully, his arms on the rest. One eyebrow perks above a lens as he gives a half smile. "Well, several reasons. One, Summer is not with you, which can only mean trouble. Two, you basically admitted to me just now. And three, well, my near Master, you should know the answer to this."

I did, actually. See one of the perks to being a wind is air waves. And people's moods affect the air waves, either in a negative or a positive sense because of their aura. Any Wind can feel the change, any Master can tell what exactly. I'm not exactly at that point, but I'm pretty good at being able to guess correctly, so I'm close. But this is exactly the reason Winds can either be very moody, if they connect too frequently with the air waves of others, or detached, if they've learned to ignore them.

Father was still waiting, but I still didn't know how to respond so I just blurt it out. "Summer's in jail!"

The slight downward tilt of his head so he could look at me over his glasses told me that he was concerned but not surprised. This irritated me; Summer was such a delinquent that it doesn't even come as a shock that she managed to land in jail. "Jail?"

I explain everything that I saw at the café, which Father only responded with a nod and another small smile. "Well, I suppose we'll get some quiet tonight, hm?"

His relaxed disposition soothed me as well, and I finally managed to erase my tension. Just in time for my mother to show up. She's round and plump, with a jolly smile that always brings a glimmer to her powder blue eyes. She's the type of woman that when she cries, you do also because why would you ever want to hurt someone as docile and sweet as her?

Which is another reason I hate Summer so much.

"Oh, Autumn, you're home! Where's Summer?"

It was my father who spared me. I could see him breathe in a little sigh as if bracing himself when he said, "She won't be joining us tonight, Laura."

One of the downfalls to having Master Winds as parents is that there's no lying to them because of what I explained earlier. So Mother knew right away that something was up and instead of the "Oh, is she at a friend's house?" that some mothers would ask on television, she goes, "What's wrong?"

"Well, Summer is spending the night at the Sheriff's department."

"What?" Mother's eyes widened to an enormous amount. "Oh, John, we must absolutely get her out! A jail cell is no place for a seventeen year old!"

"Laura, that isn't necessary. One night in jail will not harm her, and maybe it will instill a little bit of discipline in her."

"John!"

"Yes, dear?"

The look was everything. It was the reason we were hopping in our white Caravan, checking into the Sheriff's department, and in the visitor area. The orange jumpsuit that Summer was forced to wear matched her hair, and dare I say matched her personality. There was a glass separating us from her, which I thought was a little much, but I suppose if they suspect her to be a dangerous arson, they'll take preventive measures.

Father picked up the phone and I know what was said because he relayed it to us later.

"Summer, honestly, two fires in one day?" Even Father's normally calm exterior was broken by the slight edge in his voice. "Have you no control? No discipline?"

"Dad, I'm trying to tell you, I didn't start that second fire."

"The police reported you having the lighter in your hands."

"Since when do I need a lighter to use Fire!" Summer's grip on the phone was so tight, I could see the whites of her knuckles." "Yeah, I did the school one, but I didn't do the second one!"

"Given your track record, I find that highly unlikely."

"Have I ever lied to you?" Summer's voice had already been increasing, but now we didn't need Father to relay. Her eyes glowed dangerously, that for a tense moment I thought she would actually be stupid enough to cause a fire here as well. "I hate you! I should have known that you weren't coming to pick me up! Why, when you have Perfect Autumn, right? Why believe me? Why need me?"

Before Father could get another word in, she threw the phone down so hard I thought it would shatter to pieces, but instead it just dangled off the hook. "I hate you!" she screamed, or I guess she did since we could actually hear it.

We all made a collective sigh as Summer stormed out of the room, but it was only Father who spoke. "Well, that went well, I think."