Two translucent walls rose from the floor and divided the room into three smaller chambers. Celestine looked at the tablet and began tapping on its screen. Nothing happened during the first few seconds.

"Sorry, I am not used to using this," Celestine said. After a while, a large target emerged from the wall behind her. It was about as tall as her and had ten concentric rings. A metal rod, which was around two meters tall and five centimeters thick, surfaced next to Stella. A transparent barrier formed around Celestine.

"So for our first lesson," she began, "you will learn to shoot lightning. Lightning is a very dangerous element; like fire, it is destructive and hard to control. I don't trust you to create your lightning yet, so you will conduct it through the metal rod next to you. Place your left hand on the rod."

Stella gripped the metal rod.

"Turn your right hand into a fist."

She clenched her right fist.

"Extend your index and middle finger from your right hand."

She pointed her two fingers and kept the rest curled.

"Aim at the target and align your fingers with your eyes. But don't make your arm straight—bend it a little, like this."

Celestine lifted her right arm, her bent elbow pointing towards the floor. Stella imitated her and aligned her fingertips with the bullseye. She could already feel the current from the rod flowing into her body through her left hand.

"Now to shoot, just give it a little push."

Celestine straightened her arm, her fingers propelled slightly forward. Stella nodded her head, peered at the target, and mimicked her.

Crack! Her right arm recoiled as a single bolt of electricity jumped from her fingertips and struck the target. A dark grey mark was left at the second innermost ring. Celestine smiled and slightly nodded her head.

"Ben fatto," she said, "now continue until you have hit the center. A bell will ring when you hit it."

Streaks of bright white, tinged with faint purple, continued to flash from Stella's fingers. A little smoke began to rise from her fingertips. Charcoal grey spots left by the bolts were spread around the target. Some spots were inches away from the bullseye; others were as far away as the ninth ring. Stella kept on shooting, her eyes peering at the center. Fifth ring. Seventh ring. Third ring. She sighed, aimed, and tried for the twelfth time.

Ding! The sound of a bell echoed throughout the chamber. A dark spot formed squarely in the middle of the target. "Bravo! Now try with your left hand," Celestine told her. Stella walked a few steps to her left, clutched the rod with her right hand, and began shooting with her other hand. It took her fifteen tries before she struck the bullseye once more.

"Now let's try something else," Celestine said.

She tapped her tablet a few more times. The metal rod sunk into the floor. A metal baton dropped from above a moment later, attached to the ceiling by a thin cord. Eight lines appeared on the floor, each one equidistant from the other, marking certain distances from the target.

"This time, we'll try from different distances," she went on. "Stand on the line closest to the target and fire using your right hand. After hitting the bullseye, try your left hand. After that, go to the next line and repeat."

Stella nodded her head. She outstretched her left arm, grabbed hold of the baton, and marched some steps forward. The target was only five meters away from her. She lifted her right arm, aimed, and fired. Crack! A dark grey spot formed a few centimeters from the center. She tried again. A purplish streak struck the bullseye. Without waiting for her aunt's instruction, she switched hands and continued to shoot. It took her only three tries to hit the bullseye. She turned her back, walked towards the next line, and resumed firing. It took her about twenty minutes to reach the furthest line, and about ten more minutes before she struck the center from both hands. Celestine tapped her tablet again. The lines, baton, and target disappeared. Two chairs materialized near the translucent wall.

"Let's take a short break," said Celestine.

Stella took a seat and glanced at her right. She could make out two people standing in the other chamber, and what seemed to be a large bowl being placed between them. What is Edmond up to? she wondered. She picked up her sling bag, retrieved her tumbler, and drank.

***

Edmond placed his hands behind his back as he waited for his mentor to start the lesson. He scrutinized her—the wrinkles in her face showed she was older than him by forty to fifty years, yet her straight posture and the spark in her eyes suggested she was still strong and capable of combat. A tablet was hovering next to her.

"Your name is Edmond, right?" she asked.

"It is, but you can call me Eddie," he replied.

"Then I shall call you that. You can just call me Helene. Nice to meet you, Eddie."

"Nice to meet you, Helene."

She held out her bony hand and he grasped it. To his surprise, Helene's grip was stronger than his, and when they shook hands, she was rather firm. She's strong for her age, he thought. After the handshake, she motioned him to take a few steps backward. She then spoke,

"As I have said, you have three main powers: pyrokinesis, electrokinesis, and telekinesis. Telekinesis is the hardest to master out of the three, so I think it will be best for you to learn that next year while we focus on the other two. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Good. Which one do you want to learn first?"

"Which one's easier?" he asked. Helene flashed a faint smile.

"That's subjective. What is easier for me can be harder for you," she said. "Which do you prefer? Electrokinesis demands precision and accuracy, whereas pyrokinesis demands control."

"I think I prefer electrokinesis."

"Perfect! We'll start with pyrokinesis."

She tapped her tablet. A single candle appeared between the two of them.

"Pyrokinesis is not just controlling fire, but also controlling heat. I want you to keep that in mind," she said. "By the way, have you summoned a flame before?"

"Yes."

"Okay then. I want you to light a tiny flame and use it to light this candle, like this."

She turned her hand so that her palm would face the ceiling. She brought the fingertips of her first three fingers close to each other, but not to the point of touching. A flame the size of a marble ignited above her fingertips. He imitated her. A warm sensation traveled from his heart, through his right arm, and to his fingertips as he summoned a flame. His flame was a dark reddish-orange, whereas Helene's was glowing whitish-blue. She raised her eyebrows, her eyes pointing to the candle. He moved his hand closer to the candle and bent his wrist, his fingertips close to the wick as he lit the candle. He then retracted his arm, a flame still dancing above his fingers.

"Extinguishing it is easy. Just split your fingers," Helene said. She parted her fingertips. The flame vanished instantly. He did likewise. She continued, "For smaller flames, we tend to extinguish them by absorbing all their heat. You can extinguish this one by holding your hand above it, like this."

Helene proceeded to place her palm right above the lit candle. She slightly curled her fingers inwards. Smoke rose from the candle as the flame was reduced to a dying glint. She straightened her fingers. The flame resurrected. She removed her hand.

"Now you try. Focus on absorbing the heat."

He held his hand just above the candle flame—it nearly licked his palm. His palm tingled as the flame shrunk, and shrunk, and then vanished. The same warm sensation coursed through him, except this time, it flowed from his fingers to his heart and then radiated towards other parts of his body. Goosebumps ran all over his skin.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"I feel... energized."

"That's because heat is energy. It's useful when you're busy fighting and need an extra boost, but don't absorb too much or you'll explode."

Edmond blinked twice. "Explode?"

"Well, you won't actually explode, but the excess heat will dissipate in such a way that it will feel like you exploded. And after that you will pass out."

"Oh, okay then. How much is too much?"

"It's hard to quantify, but you'll know it when you feel it," she replied. "Anyway, light the candle again."

He relit the candle.

"Now," she said, "augment it, like this."

Helene placed her open palm in front of the candle instead of above it, her fingers bent to a small degree. She raised her hand to her shoulder level. The flame swelled into a blaze twice as large as her head. She lowered her hand. The blaze diminished to its original size. She removed her hand and watched him replicate her example with little-to-no difficulty.

"You're a fast learner," she remarked.

"Thank you," he said.

Helene tapped her touchscreen three times. The candle was replaced by a bronze bowl, the cold coal it held waiting to be burned. Edmond cast glances at his sides, wondering what Jon and Stella were up to.

***

José stood opposite his son, spending the first few minutes figuring out the tablet's functions and features. It took him a while before he finally managed to summon some objects: a small table, which appeared right next to him; and a glass box, which was half-filled with water. The box was completely sealed so that water could not leak or evaporate from it. José placed the gadget on the table next to him and began speaking.

"Hydrokinesis is very easy," José stated in Spanish. "Since this is our first lesson, we'll just focus on transforming water from one state of matter to another. It's very simple: bring your hands up to melt or evaporate; bring them down to condense or freeze.

"Let's start. First, open your palms."

Jon opened his hands, his palms facing the glass case. He stood still as he waited for his father's further instructions.

"Evaporate," José said.

Jon moved his hands in an upward motion. The water instantly became gaseous.

"Condense."

Jon moved his hands downwards. The vapor returned to its liquid state.

"Freeze."

Jon flicked his wrists, his fingers pointing to the floor. The water froze in seconds.

"Sublimate."

"What?"

"From ice straight to vapor. Not ice to water to vapor, just ice to vapor," José elaborated.

Jon stared intently at the block of ice and slowly lifted his fingers. Steam began to rise from it. After a few seconds, all the ice seemed to have sublimated. José came closer to the glass case and scrutinized it for any droplets. There were none. A series of one-word instructions continued to escape José's mouth. Jon obeyed, transforming the water from one state to another. Jon sighed inwardly—he was hoping to learn something more advanced than simply boiling water without using a kettle.

***

The walls that divided the room vanished in an instant. Stella could see what the others were working on. A big basin, filled to the brim with water, was placed in front of Jon. In the middle of Edmond's room was a bronze bowl, of similar size and shape to a wok, holding bright orange flames. Helene touched her tablet. The equipment that they were using for their lessons vanished into thin air. "That's enough for the morning," Helene declared. Edmond and Stella frowned slightly; Jon quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Helene opened the door and ushered them out of the room. Celestine walked up to her and handed her the access card.

"No," Helene said, "you keep it. You will give it back when I tell you to."

"How were your lessons?" Stella asked as they exited the gymnasium.

"It went well," Edmond replied. "First we lit and extinguished some flames, and after that, we focused on controlling their sizes. What about you Jon?"

"My dad just asked me to freeze water, and then unfreeze the water, and then boil, and then condense." Jon leaned into their ears and whispered, "It was more boring than I expected."

"It doesn't sound that boring," Stella whispered back. She said more loudly, "By the way, my aunt taught me to shoot lightning. I gripped this metal bar that had electricity and I had to direct it to a target. Towards the last few minutes she made the target fly around and I had to strike it."

Helene continued to guide them through the streets of Otrâlmondé. Stella glimpsed the buildings on the sides of the ladder street. Though they seemed abandoned, she saw men lurking on their rooftops. They were dressed very differently compared to the other locals; unbuttoned shirts with short sleeves exposed half of their torsos, their thighs were covered by dark brown shorts, and their feet were clad in dark brown sandals.

She paid closer attention to what they were doing. With effortless hand gestures and a little foot-stomping, the men began to dismantle the buildings. Dusty bricks, rusty pipes, and cracked glass rose from the abandoned structures before being sorted into wooden crates. A rather dapper-looking man, presumably a supervisor, oversaw the workers as they continued to demolish the buildings. Stella wondered what could be built in place of them. Some gardens to match the nearby parks, perhaps? Though the level of destruction the laborers dealt was enough to cause worry to ordinary humans, Helene seemed unfazed by the work that was happening nearby. She did not even acknowledge their presence.

"By the way, Jon," Stella said as they descended the ladder street, "I was wondering why your dad called you 'Juan' earlier?"

"That's my real name. 'Jon' is my nickname. I ask people to call me that because I think it sounds cooler. Do you have a nickname?"

"Oh, no. Everybody just calls me Stella. I mean, my name's already pretty short," she answered. They reached the base of the ladder street and crossed the circular bridge. "Also, are you from Spain?"

Jon nodded his head. "And you?"

"I'm Italian."

"Ah, so you're from here?"

"Oh no, I'm from Rome. My aunt lives here though."

They continued strolling down the lane. Edmond asked, "By the way, how old are you guys?"

"Thirteen," Stella replied.

"Fourteen," Jon said.

"I'm fifteen."

"Fifteen?" the two exclaimed simultaneously.

"Wait, you're fifteen?" José asked, jumping into the trio's conversation. Edmond raised an eyebrow at their reactions.

"How old do I look?"

"You look eighteen," Jon said.

"Yeah," Stella agreed, "he looks seventeen or eighteen."

"Do I look old or is it just my height?"

"Your height," José said. "You're quite tall for a fifteen-year-old. What's your height?"

"Um, I think one point eight meters, last time I checked."

"One point eight?" Stella repeated. "No wonder you seem so tall; I'm only one point fifty-eight."

"I'm one point seventy," Jon said.

They arrived at the door after ambling for a few minutes. Helene bent over and knocked on its corner. They were back on Earth a short while later.

"You five can have your lunch break. We'll meet here again at two o'clock sharp. See you this afternoon," Helene told them.

"See you later," they bade her goodbye.

She did not follow them out of Old Port Warehouse. Celestine, José, and the trio emerged from the building and strolled through the forest together. When they had emerged from the woodland, the men and the women waved goodbye to each other and went in opposite directions.

✧ ✧ ✧

Fun Fact: In the first draft of The Secret Land of Otrâlmondé, the trio trained on their own in Stella's house. Not exactly the best way to practice your superpowers, am I right?

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