Page 53 of Elemasters

Dustin went in for a hug, but he hesitated, realizing that he’d never really seen Chloe hug anyone before.

Noticing his conflict, Chloe gave a weak chuckle.

“It’s alright just this once fish boy. Bring it in,”

“You did a great job. Not that you need me to tell you that,” Dustin said, pulling her in close, “that took a lot of courage,”

“Reel it the fuck in,” Chris grabbed Dustin’s shoulder, physically forcing him and Chloe apart, “I don’t have time to watch you play therapist for everyone else. Bailey’s gone and all this shit is probably about to change again,”

“Have you lost your fucking mind?!” Dustin snapped, “I know you’re going through shit right now, but look around! So is everyone else! You don’t get to be an asshole just because you…”

“Because I what? Because I actually FEEL shit instead of just pushing it down and ignoring it like you?” Chris fired back, grabbing Dustin by the collar, “you don’t get to fucking judge me, like you’re so damn perfect,”

“Let. Me. Go,” Dustin demanded, his teeth clenched tight.

“Make me. You’re the leader, right?” Chris was grinning now, irises pulsing red with every word.

“You guys, please, there’s no need for this to get out of control! We should focus on finding Bailey, not fighting each other,” James offered, his voice shaky as his eyes bounced between the twins; clearly debating whether to get between them or not.

“Fuck off. This ain’t your fight short stack,” Chris spat, his grip on Dustin heating up to the point that the latter’s shirt started to smoke.

“There’s not going to be a fight Christian,” Chloe cut in, her veins and eyes flashing white as a clear warning, “let him go, get your shit together, and let’s find Bailey. In that order,”

Chris scoffed.

“What? You giving me orders now?”

“It’s an order I suggest you follow,” Dustin seethed, his eyes still locked on Chris as his veins darkened, turning his breaths into puffs of cold air with the subtle activation of his powers, “don’t take this somewhere you can’t come back from,”

Chris just eyed Dustin for a long moment, his eyes still pulsating with crimson light. It looked like he was studying him, trying to predict what he would do next. It wasn’t a side of Dustin he was familiar with (it wasn’t even a side Dustin himself was familiar with) so he clearly wasn’t sure how to proceed.

But eventually, he released his brother, pushing him back in the same motion.

“Whatever. Let’s just fucking find Bailey,”

As Chris finally let him go, Dustin finally took a look at their environment; gone was the glorious atrium of Chloe’s trial, and they were now standing… in the Kochiyama High black box theater? The room was larger than the one at their school, but Dustin still recognized Mrs. Lincoln’s office door on the far side of the space; the only distinguishable feature of the bland space with black walls.

The seats on the edge of the room were slowly starting to fill with shadowy, humanoid figures. They were chatting amongst themselves in a language Dustin couldn’t quite decipher, but it made him shudder nonetheless.

He had no idea what Bailey was in for, but he knew for sure that it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

Bailey was possibly the theater kid-est theater kid to ever exist, so finding herself in the dressing room of her high school, amidst costume pieces and half-assembled props shouldn’t have been unnerving.

But of course, it wasn’t really the dressing room, was it? It was the Lotus Garden spitting an approximation of it back in her face as a way to test her.

Like a trap wearing a dear friend’s face.

Before she could even really get her bearings, the creaking sound of the door on the other side of the room caught her attention. It swung open on its own, silently urging her to step out into the Black Box, where she could already hear indistinct chatter.

Even though she couldn’t understand exactly what was being said, she could still feel it, oddly enough. She knew the tone of judgement and ridicule, even when she couldn’t make out the words.

“Face the judgement of a bunch of assholes without losing my cool?” Bailey wondered aloud, guessing the theme of her trial before the garden even had a chance to spell it out, “easy-peasy. I’ve been doing that for years,”

She stepped through the door and into the theater proper, instantly noting that the main performance space was surrounded by an impossible number of chairs, full of featureless shadow people. In the center of the room, was a massive slab of pristine white marble; like the kind fancy sculptures were made out of.

Bailey rolled her eyes, followed by a self-assured smirk.

The Lotus Garden really thought it was clever. Truly believed this was some kind of “gotcha” moment.