She was born a princess raised to be a princess even without royal blood.Her body adorned ornaments more precious than gold. Her skin is as soft as silk. Even her name exuded elegance "Aura". But what made her glow and special was her gift. The one she was destined with. The one she was responsible for. She was the goddess of air. Everything that is agile and lively in the world was her own to care for.

She was born as the only child to the minister of heavenly realm Theodore and his wife Rachel. Her birth was welcomed by a prophecy that shook the heavenly realm."Four great souls may take up the elemental powers and rise to keep the world in balance. Their fates are sealed, their destiny unchangeable."

The first one in the prophecy was he who was born in the lunar month Ashada to the royal lineage of sky.He shall possess the power of scorching yet precarious flame. In the same month the emperor of sky Zephros and the empress Sephi welcomed their third son Blaze. The news of the birth of God of fire was spread across the nation.

The second is the one with ocean blue eyes and skin as pale as porcelain. He will be born to artistic parents and soon grow fond of vast blues in life. He will be the lord of oceans and lakes.

The third one will be born on the day of the festival month with emerald eyes that no one else is blessed with. The day Aura was born her eyes confirmed her power. She will be the master of winds, the breath of life.

The fourth a girl born to the humble devotees of land and with a birthmark on her glabella.

She will be the mother earth, the one who nourishes life and masters the art of patience.

Unlike the first and third person mentioned in the prophecy, the other two were less specific and more difficult to find. Ever since the birth of Aura and Blaze, the emperor had started a search for the other two in order to provide adequate training for their powers. On nearing their fifth birthday, a girl named "Avani" was brought to the palace by the guards who seemingly resemble the fourth one in prophecy. She was homeless as her parents died early .The fourth person was more or less confirmed and she was adopted by the minister. But there was no news of the second one. He remained unknown.

Years passed by Aura and Avani grew up together, bonded like sisters. Blaze was one of the princes and grew up surrounded by many royal kids and was known for his hot temper. As he grew up he learnt to control his power as well as his temper which made him more loveable to the people around him. That doesn't apply to Aura. Even though their fathers share a good bond, Aura and Blaze were always head-to-head. Always competing and comparing.

Aura

The heavenly realm had an academy, teaching its disciples different skills and arts. Almost all kids of the realm attended it.

Aura was the best in archery and painting. Blaze excelled in all martial arts. Despite being good at different things, their differences don't stop them from being rivals.

When they were 10 years old the annual festival held that year marked the beginning of their rivalry. Aura's friends were mainly girls from their neighborhood and her sister Avani. They usually spend time and energy on arts and music.

Blaze and his gang were known for their skill in martial arts. The only thing both had in common was archery. Archery was in fact a skill that needed precision and concentration at its peak.

In the event of archery Blaze was on lead followed by Aura. Both teams were pretty neutral at the beginning. But as the match intensified, Anit, a bosom friend of Blaze couldn't handle the match getting longed and shouted

" You can't win the fire load, no wonder you can't even blow out a forest fire but only worsen it".

At the peak of her anger, Aura won much to the demise of Blaze.

This enraged Anit and his friends more. Slowly both gangs started distancing from each other. Aura and Blaze become more competitive.

Years went by, Avani grew up to be a beautiful young lady with a tiny pitch black mole in between her brows. Avani was always surrounded by boys her age. She was very good in interactions.

Aura's emerald eyes continue to glare at whoever stands her way. She was studious and passionate about things. But she remained silent to all boys in her way. Aura always seemed to hold a grudge against boys as if everyone was Blaze.

Blaze was also the same even though he was surrounded by numerous girls who openly or silently expressed their interests to him, he remained poise. He was determined in mastering control over his power, the flame.

Unlike Avani, Aura and Blaze had trouble controlling their powers. Aura would casually knock over a tree during practice and say it was controlled and under her supervision even though it clearly wasn't. Blaze could easily put fire to a bunch of dried trees and still act as if nothing happened.

But deep down they both were trying to improve. Desperately trying to master their inner demons.

Their 15th birthday marked the year of coronation of the new emperor of sky, Michael,the older brother of Blaze. The heavenly realm was filled with celebrations everywhere. Flowers of vivid colors came to life in the gardens. Every life in the realm was in high spirits. That day something new happened to Aura, a new realisation that was hard to process, accept and acknowledge.

On her way to the academy, through the long hallway, a murmur reached her ears. She stopped and listened, the sound was familiar yet distant. She walked closer to it.

Behind a long pillar she saw Rithi. She was her friend, who followed her through all the classes, who eagerly listened to all their friends blabbering, and was now standing in front of her rival looking all meak and shy. Yes she was standing in front of Blaze looking at him, talking to him politely.

Aura could only make out a few sentences

" I sincerely love you, I always do. Please just say you can wait or try, atleast in the future".

"Don't avoid me. "

She could hear her pleading on and on. She stood there stunned and immobile.

Aura

She was totally speechless and stunned.

There was a burning sensation in her stomach which was totally foreign to her. Without hearing his reply to any of her pleadings, she left there. There was still an itchy feeling.

At first she thought, it may be because Rithi is one of her friends and she may be feeling protective. But no, it was not that. She felt envious of her for some reason. As she walked towards the crowd that was celebrating the festival, the only thing inside her head was Blaze and Rithi. The way they stood opposite to each other was irritating.

The next day when she was drawing a scenery, Rithi walked towards her and spoke

" Your paintings are getting better day by day. One can easily spot the realism in it. "

" I still have a long way to go." Aura corrected her.

" You are seriously one hard nut to crack." Rithi sulked.

They talked for a bit and Rithi left. She didn't tell about her confession though. Aura had no idea of how to react if she told her.

The next few days Aura deliberately avoided meeting him. The main places where they may end up seeing each other were in archery lessons, integrated classes and Elite classes.

She could easily avoid him in the first two places but the third, she can't.

Elite classes were made for the three of the elemental power holders. The Elite class is mainly intended to teach them to control their powers. They are under supervision of a retired soldier who had a reputed history in many battles between the different realms.

They only started attending such classes one year back, that is when they were 14 years old. It had always been a disaster for Aura and Blaze while Avani would just chill. Even their teacher had no idea about how to control their powers, but he was pretty strict with them.

It was during the elite class that the two of them first talked to each other. Though they were only casual questions like.

" Can you dress in a lighter colour for the next class? It impairs my eyesight."

Blaze once commented about her dark emerald green dress that perfectly matched her eyes.

" I don't think about dressing in sky blue like you do "

" Light green would do"

" Not even in your dreams!"

Aura always dresses in dark colours. She was very fond of them.

Even though they don't get along well, they don't initiate much fights between each other. It's just that when they talk, they argue.

The next elite class, Blaze was late. Aura and Avani were practising together.

Avani took control of a bunch of rocks and maintained them in positions they wished. She had good control over her power, the earth. Aura wished she could do it like her.

Aura was the top of every class she attended except where it matters, the Elite class. She swirled her hand and a gentle breeze passed in its direction. By far that was the only thing she could do.

Their teacher used to tell them they have to be equipped with their powers before 20 years as teenage is the ideal age for learning power control. Beyond 20, it will be difficult to learn control of their already bewildered powers unless they are really talented.

Blaze came to the field of practice and started by conjuring a small concise fire out of nowhere. He also sucked in his control of powers. But unlike Aura, his simple abilities could attract tons of girls.

After about an hour they were on break.

Avani asked " How was the combat-wrestling match today ?" Avani was pretty smooth in initiating conversations and it helped them a lot in getting friends but for the first time, She was cursing Avani for initiating a conversation with Blaze whom she was trying her best to avoid.

" Pretty good! I won the natch. How is the minister doing? I heard he was sick."

" He's fine now." Avani said glancing at Aura to speak further.

Aura remained silent.

Avani stamped on her foot and she let out a painful whisper " Ouch "

" I have heard you are getting proposals from a lot of girls now. Are you planning on settling with one of them and bunking classes? Are you no longer interested in mastering the fire?"

Avani looked at her in disbelief. Out of all the questions she could have asked, she chose this.

Aura