Making Acquaintance

"How can you help me with this situation?" Crystal asked, not taking the bait immediately.

"Well, I shall assist you with any of your queries. I understand that you are Crystal Smith from the first year, the fae that everyone has been talking about." Crystal felt her cheeks burning red. Even the seniors were gossiping about her. Did she stand out to such an extent?

"I shall not ask unnecessary questions regarding your queries and I shall assist you silently for whatever purpose you have." Crystal squinted her eyes, trying to scan the guy for any suspicious aura around him, but there was none. He surprisingly was being genuine, but Crystal could not help her tensed brain.

"Why would you do that? It makes you look really suspicious," she asked, still skeptical.

"You can ask any student of this academy. Aurelius Flores likes helping others out." He was lying. He did not like helping others out." He was lying as he just believed that those two shared a connection, and he was ready to take any chances to confirm his suspicion.

Although Crystal had the ability to decipher one's aura of malice or good intention, she would not know if someone was lying to her.

She would have almost scoffed at his face with that confidence of his if she had not realized one thing.

"Wait-- Aurelius, the fae that almost all of the faeries find handsome, warm, and companionate?" Crystal asked, almost in disbelief, and did not realize her words made the poor fae flush.

Aurelius, who was usually calm and collected, seemed taken aback by her question. "I-- I suppose you could say that," he mumbled audibly, and Crystal sighed, nodding her head.

"Okay, let's discuss whatever I want to know from now on, but how will we communicate?" Crystal could not even believe her own words. She was supposed to keep anything related to herself a secret, and yet she was involving another fae in her matter.

"Like this," said Aurelius as he twisted his wrist and spoke out loud, "Verba volant."

Crystal watched in amazement as a note appeared at Aurelius's fingertips, and he pushed it towards her. The note disappeared the next second and reappeared in front of her, making her jump. Aurelius chuckled silently, finding her reaction adorable.

"Dear Crystal, I am very honored to make your acquaintance." Crystal read through the note and gave Aurelius a side-eye.

"I guess not much actual information about me is being circulated because I don't know how to cast spells. My powers are close to zero," Crystal explained, hoping that Aurelius wouldn't think any less of her.

Aurelius's expression told Crystal that he did not know about her lack of power. "My apologies if I have offended you," he said, bowing his head and Crystal got flustered real quick.

She was not offended at all and thought maybe he really was just warm and compassionate.

"No worries, I wasn't offended at all." Crystal chuckled, trying to remove the guilty aura coming from him.

"Pardon me, If not this spell, then how about this?" Saying that, Aurelius flicked his fingers again, but this time he did not cast a spell, and a quill made out of leaves appeared in his hand.

"Take this, my lady. Any piece of paper that you inscribe with it will reach me, anyhow." Crystal gladly accepted the pen from him and thanked him, getting his smile in return.

"Can I ask you a question?" Crystal looked at Aurelius with anticipated eyes, which gave him butterflies in his stomach, and he just gracefully nodded his head.

"You used a spell earlier, but you did not use it for this trick. I have not had my spellcasting class yet, so I don’t know about these things."

"A fae possesses innate magical abilities, specific to their birth qualities. They can utilize these abilities at will, without the need for spells or incantations. However, if a fae wishes to use magic beyond their innate abilities, they require specialized spells to do so." Crystal made an 'o' with her lips and nodded her head. Since Aurelius was a spring faerie, a quill made out of leaves must be within his own qualities.

"Thank you for the information, and thank you for this quill," said Crystal, wriggling the quill. "I will certainly reach you if I have any questions."

"I will look forward to your message, my lady," Aurelius was about to do the fae greeting, but Crystal stopped him in the middle.

"Please don’t call me that. Just call me Crystal." She seemed quite disturbed by the title.

"Understood, Crystal." Aurelius chuckled and proceeded to do the fae greeting before they parted ways.

…

“All of you present, stand in a straight line,” said Professor Ventus Fortis. She was the faerie of wind and was the best option the academy could put for the Flight Technique class.

Crystal was not really sure about this; her wings were yet to emerge, so she was absolutely certain that she was failing the class.

"Take a deep breath, everyone. Close your eyes and focus your attention. Attempt to locate your wings from within your being. You may even envision them and make them to manifest." Professor Fortis had a loud, enthusiastic voice that was great for encouraging the students, but Crystal still seemed troubled.

Almost all of the other faeries were already in flight, some with ease and some with difficulty, but Crystal remained on the ground.

Professor Fortis landed beside her and patted Crystal’s shoulder twice. “You shall have no worries. You will learn. Everyone has their own share of obstacles and that is something quite natural.” Professor Fortis was trying to cheer her up, and Crystal gave her a fake smile, trying not to be ungrateful.

She could not help feeling dejected as she looked at her peers.

Now that Professor Fortis was close to Crystal, she noticed, along with her gray, messy, classic pixie hair, that her eyes were of a smoke-gray hue and that she was even shorter than Crystal in stature.