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The night was unusually still at Elemental University. The stars seemed to hold their breath, casting a serene glow over the campus. In the quiet of the dormitory, Aurelia Oxide lay awake, her mind racing with the day’s revelations about Gallus’s fluctuating powers. Beside her, the snoring of her roommate provided a rhythm to her thoughts.
Suddenly, a faint knock on the door shattered the silence. Aurelia sat up, alert. “Who could it be at this hour?” she whispered to herself as she tiptoed across the room.
Peering through the peephole, she saw Nickolas Allen, his usually composed face etched with urgency. She quickly opened the door, her heart pounding. He had never been to the girls’ dorms before, let alone hers specifically. “Nicky, what are you doing here?”
“It’s Gallus,” he said, his voice low. “His powers… there’s been an incident. Wake Selena up, this is important.” For once, he didn’t comment on her use of the nickname, or try to counter it.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Aurelia grabbed her jacket, pulled Selena out of bed and followed Nickolas into the night, hovering with him, while briefing a half-asleep yet panicked Selena of the situation. The campus was deserted, the moon casting long shadows on the paths that led to the building.
As they entered the room, the scene before them was chaotic. Papers fluttered in the air, was strewn about, and in the center of it all stood Gallus Siliconson, or rather, his liquefied form, glowing with an otherworldly light.
Aurelia gently let Selena down to go investigate, while she lit up the room with a golden glow. Inside, they saw two mysterious figures in lab coats standing beside him, trying to analyze the situation themselves. The two of them turned around upon seeing the light. They recognized it anywhere.
“Aurelia,” the taller of the two said, “Good that you’re here.”
Aurelia blinked away her groggy vision and looked up at the person properly. “Dad? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, thank goodness you’re okay…” said the woman standing next to him. “Your dad and I came here to observe your friend and see what happened.”
“Who’s that?” Selena asked Nickolas, referring to the tall woman next to Dr. Aurelius. She looked mysterious, yet was full of energy, despite the fact that it was 1 AM. She was just as concerned for him as everyone else, though she spent her working hours in the arts department rather than the science department.
“I think Aurelia would be better suited to answer…”
Before Selena could ask, Aurelia whispered to her, “She’s… my mom. She teaches journalism here.”
Selena nodded in reply as Aurelia turned to talk with her mother. “Yeah, I’m fine, but… are you? Your face seems pale somehow.”
Her face did seem pale, as if the fluorine inside her had been drained. She was not known to have energy fluctuations of her own at all, considering all three of her elements, fluorine, sulfur and hydrogen never caused her problems, except for causing her to burn things when she was too angry.
“I don’t know… I slightly touched liquid Gallus, and somehow I don’t feel too good.”
“A reaction…” Selena muttered, nodding her head.
“Makes sense… my mom’s element is fluorine, which is really reactive.” Aurelia said, scratching her chin slightly.
“But this was more reactive…” Nickolas added. “More… radioactive than just a fluorine reaction. Like two reactive elements coming together.”
“That’s it. I think I know what his element might be!” Xeno exclaimed, a surge of energy flowing through his veins. “It’s cesium, the most reactive stable element.”
“Oh… that probably explains the reactivity,” Aurelia replied. “But what about the power surges?”
“I don’t know. We still are going tomorrow morning though.” As Dr. Aurelius instructed the sleepy trio about their short trip to the city’s top lab, Aurelia’s mother, Fluora, kept watching Gallus. Suddenly, the glow faded, and the liquid began to harden, somehow. The liquid’s color changed gradually from silver to blue, then part of it to Gallus’ skin tone. It kept molding itself and taking shape, till he was back to normal.
“Whoa… I feel odd…” he said, in a soft tone. He got off the bed and blinked a few times to clear his vision.
“Were you listening to what he was saying?” asked Aurelia. “My dad thinks your third element might be cesium, because of how wild the reaction was between your cesium and my mom’s fluorine - both very reactive.”
Gallus stood up, still feeling the odd sensation coursing through him. “I heard him,” he replied, his voice tinged with a static buzz that wasn’t there before. “Cesium and fluorine, huh? That’s quite the combination.”
As he spoke, the air around him began to crackle with energy, the golden glow that once filled the room now flickering with green sparks. Gallus raised his hand, and to everyone’s surprise, a small orb of light formed above his palm. It was bright and vibrant, yet it seemed unstable, flickering in and out of existence.
“That’s… new,” Aurelia observed, her eyes wide with both concern and fascination.
“Yeah, it’s like I can barely control it,” Gallus said, his focus on the orb intensifying. The light steadied for a moment before bursting into a shower of green sparks that danced around the room, leaving a faint scent of ozone.
Selena coughed lightly, waving away the remnants of the sparks. “Definitely fluorine related. It’s like you’re emitting a charged aura. And all of a sudden,”
Dr. Aurelius stepped forward, his expression a mix of pride and worry. “It seems the interaction between your cesium and Fluora’s fluorine has unlocked a new ability within you, Gallus. But we must be cautious; such power can be as dangerous as it is wondrous.”
“My power…” he replied, eyes glowing slightly, “isn’t cesium.”
Fluora’s eyes began to glow a similar green shade. “Yes… I can see it. Fluorine gives me the power to ‘bond’ with information, so I can see past things and get whatever information I need easily, as a journalist, so I know what he’s talking about…”
“What are you talking about, professor?” Nickolas asked. “And did you check this before?”
“No, no… I didn’t think to use my power until he used mine first. Gallus, it’s better if you tell them all.”
“It’s… francium.” Gallus said in a still voice, the brightness of the light intensifying thanks to the new, fluorine-induced power. “I can feel it… I think it’s the fluorine. Remember what we read? Francium-wielders can copy powers of other elements. That must be it! It’s francium!”
The room fell into a hushed silence as the implications of Gallus’ revelation began to sink in. Francium, an element notorious for its instability and rarity, was not something anyone had expected.
Dr. Aurelius, the ever-curious scientist, was the first to break the silence. “Francium… you say? That’s… extraordinary. It’s one of the most reactive and least stable of the naturally occurring elements. If that’s indeed your third element, Gallus, it could explain the unprecedented energy surges and the transformation you’ve undergone…”
Aurelia, still processing the new information, chimed in thoughtfully. “But francium is also highly radioactive. It’s not just reactive like cesium or fluorine; it’s a whole different level of reactivity. We need to understand how you’re able to contain such a volatile element within you without too much harm.”
“We’ll run some tests tomorrow,” Fluora said, overwhelmed and tired. “For now, all of you need to go to bed. You’re lucky it’s only a Friday night.”
And so, the whole group proceeded to their respective beds for the night, awaiting their trip outside the campus the next day. They were going to find out whether the culprit behind the energy surges was francium or not. The discovery of this element was both a blessing and a burden for Gallus, and only time would tell what it truly meant for him and the world.
[AN - omg a new element!! I'm pausing my copy pasting again bc i have a very busy life. Plus high school exams... So please read it off here if you're feeling invested. My friends are... K byee editor.reedsy.com/s/Leag4xy
Pfp scene bonus:
"I don't like this... I wanna go back to sleep, Aurelia..." Nick grumbled, adjusting his glasses.
"But I just woke you up after Selena stuck cat stickers in your hair!!" she groaned.
No response. He was falling asleep on his chair. "Dude, Nicky, for real, wake up." She deadpanned, poking his cheek a couple of times. It was how Selena woke her up.
"Stop it..."
"Overreact much? Wait, what's that light?!"
ns 15.158.61.20da2
