---

"I just don't understand why we're not fighting." Dane complained as he carried another tub of supplies towards the back of the truck, his eyes locking on the ice fairy he had done his best at avoiding over the last couple of months. "Why is she here?". The boy continued, annoyance and frustration laced in his tone. 

"Because you're still students, Dane. And Elmira is here at my request." Silva defended, his voice less playful and more defeated as he sighed before speaking. "No, we're Specialists. This is what we've been training for." The eager second-year Specialist argued back, determined to get his part of the action in the upcoming war whilst choosing to ignore the blonde's presence. 

Elmira leant her body against the side of the truck, her arms crossed as she listened to Silva explain his actions to one of his youngest students. "No, you've been training so you can fight when you graduate. I tell you what, if you wanna be a soldier, why don't you impress the Solarians with a well-stocked supply depot, huh?". The older man motioned his hand towards the shed in front of them, the blonde's hands subconsciously following the movement before her eyes locked on that of Riven's.  

As if instinctively the ice fairy found her body straighten up, her eyes not moving from that of the third years before she watched the boy's flicker of emotion immediately turn to annoyance. "What's she doing here?". Riven voiced, his once caring tone was replaced with one of venom, having not questioned Silva on anything prior to his ex's appearance had the leader narrowing his eyes between the pair. "Will you both stop questioning my actions and just listen to what I say?". The older man sighed, his patience wearing thin with the previous duo. 

With a sigh the third-year specialist placed his hand around the shoulders of his mate and directed him towards the stack of supplies, not sparing another glance at Elmira in the process. "Basically, we're fucking grunts, and we have to enjoy being fucking grunts." Riven interfered, turning back slightly but only glancing at Silva as he did so. "Uh, language and attitude. Both of yous. I'm not gonna tell you again."

"It looks like you've got more on your plate than you can handle." The blonde mused, hiding her disappointment with humor as she resumed her previous position of leaning against the truck. "Tell me about it." Silva sighed in frustration, turning his body to talk to the ice fairy once more before he was interrupted by none other than Musa appearing beside him. "How's Bloom doing?". The leader questioned, gaining the attention from Elmira at the words. "Yeah, she's good. She's in bed. Nothing like being accused of murder to give you time to catch up on Netflix." 

Elmira stood up at the former fairy's words, making herself even more known to the pair as she questioned the girl's words. "Um, sorry? Bloom killed Rosalind. Damn I didn't think she had it in her." Silva turned at the ice fairy's comment, narrowing his own eyes towards her as a signal to tell her to be quiet. With a raise of her hands the blonde remained silent as she listened to what Musa could possibly want with the Specialists. "Lot of crate action going on. Looks like you could use some help." The ice fairy found herself laughing at the former fairy's hint. 

"Well, I appreciate the offer, but as you can see, we've got enough Specialists. If only they'd work more and complain less." Silva denied, turning his attention towards Dane and Riven who had come back to load more supplies in the middle of the conversation. "And you don't need any more Specialists?". Musa insisted causing a round of silence to fall between the group as the blonde fought with everything in her to not make a snarky comment. As shocking as it may be to some the ice fairy respected Silva, he did what was necessary when he killed Andreas - well, thought he killed him originally, and overall, he was a seemingly good bloke. 

"Look, I don't have any magic, but I'd really like to stay at Alfea. I just thought if I became a Specialist... besides you've already got Elmira here." The mention of her name allowed the ice fairy a step into the conversation once more, sick of being silent she engaged in the topic. "Unlike you I actually have magic, and if I'm not mistaken Bloom being out means I'm now the most powerful fairy in this school sooo I'm an asset." 

Gaining another harsh glance from Silva the blonde raised her hands in defense, not bothering to argue but feeling the need to point out the obvious to the seemingly oblivious former fairy. "Now's not the best time, Musa." The leader confirmed, preparing to let her down gently before Dane interrupted. "Why not? We're just supplying Solaria, right? I'm only half-kidding. I can easily start her up on a light training regimen in our downtime."

"What downtime? This isn't fucking daycare. No offence." Riven voiced, still refusing to make eye contact with his ex despite the number of glances he couldn't help himself in giving her. "Wasn't clever enough to offend me. No offence." The ice fairy found herself scoffing at Musa's comeback, rolling her eyes before she pushed herself off the side of the truck and stood beside Silva. "I feel like you're forgetting this is a war. Because of your little friend's actions may I add." Elmira had never quite liked the former mind fairy, her closeness with Riven being the main reasoning but in this instance, it was how she talked down to the boy the blonde still held such love for. 

"I will literally do anything." The former mind fairy spoke, choosing to ignore the ice fairy's words once more only irritating the blonde more. 

---

Elmira couldn't help but break out into laughter as she saw the task Silva had assigned to the Specialists, her eyes landing on a giant pile of shit - her respect immediately increasing for the Specialists leader. "So, it's like a Mr. Miyagi situation, right? He's teaching us something." Musa broke the silence, glancing at Riven as she spoke which only irritated the blonde more. "Yeah, how to shovel shit." 

The ice fairy found a smile appear on her face at the third-years retort, his tone proving he's either completely oblivious to the former-fairy's interest in him or he simply doesn't care. "This is gonna take all week." Riven continued causing the blonde girl to start laughing once more. "Stop being dramatic, it's literally one pile." Elmira responded, rolling her eyes at the boy's words causing him to finally turn around towards her and stare directly at her for the first time in the last hour. 

"If it's so simple, why don't you do it then?". Riven questioned, his arms crossing against his body as he stepped closer to the ice fairy, the other two seemingly moving to begin working on the pile as the exes began arguing. "I hate to break it to you but I'm not a specialist. I'm just here to make sure you actually do the work." Elmira sassed, stepping forward just as the third year had done. 

"What so Silva just assigned you to us? As if. He may love scheming but there's no way he'd just assign you to look after us." The boy's tone was accusatory as he subconsciously stepped closer towards her. "Trust me. I don't want to be here either. I could think of at least a dozen other things I could be doing right now that is nowhere near you." The ice fairy added, her temper raising the more the pair corresponded. "Only a dozen? Let me guess, one of those is with Tahmina."

The mention of the blonde girl's ex caused a sense of unease to run through her body, she had not seen the girl since their shared moment, nor had she spent much time thinking about it - more so she'd thought more about the impact it could've had on Riven had he known then anything. "Last I checked you broke up with me. You don't get a say in who I spend time with, you made sure of that." 

Elmira's words were cold, her face one of annoyance and irritation as she spun on her heel and walked away from the boy that continued to break her heart. She was aware she'd have to report back to Silva but right now anywhere was better than being near Riven. As she rounded the corner of a building and ensured she was out of sight completely she let the tears fall, a steady stream that had become familiar to the blonde given the last few weeks of trauma. 

Her hands itched to access her power, her body running cold as her eyes flashed a deep blue. Giving in to her urges Elmira flexed her fingers ever so softly, immediately freezing a nearby sculpture and the bushes that surrounded it in the process. A familiar pain twirled around the blonde's heart as she did so, the simple movement causing an excessive amount of torture for the young fairy, yet she chose to ignore it as the pain from Riven's words struck her more.