Glide through the winds...

Lydia

~

I gulped.

This is really happening.

"So," Lasory began. "We'll start nice and easy."

That should be reassuring, but all I could feel was raw adrenaline pumping through my system. I could barely look straight. I was excited and nervous and terrified and uncertain.

"Are you ready? It's okay if you need a minute."

I swallowed hard and nodded.

You can't just explain the feeling of "I'm about to learn magic after a lifetime of being a genuine potato and living in a world where I can only lie awake at night and wish magic could be real like in the stories I used to write."

"Seriously, it's not that bad," he reassured.

I readied my stance, taking one more deep breath. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to be disappointed."

I was caught off-guard a little bit.

"You aren't going to master it on the first day. I just want you to be aware of that."

I laughed, partially in relief, thinking it was going to be way more serious than that. "Oh I know that."

"Good good," he smiled. "When I used to be a fighter, on our first day of training, a lot of the recruits were really bummed when they weren't gods on the first day."

I smiled. "I definitely don't expect to be a 'god'."

I knew he was just trying to ease my nerves, and it was working.

"Okay," he began, holding his hand out. "Watch."

His hand began to glow, and then a sort of orb formed above it. The orb was a yellowish color, no bigger than an inch or two, and had a few tinier orbs aimlessly floating around it.

I gasped, feeling like a child as I saw the act of magic before my very eyes once again.

"This is materialized energy." He moved his hand around, and the orb followed it. "Magic is simple in principle. All it is is the manipulation of the energy around you."

That's kind of how I'd picture it.

"In the end, that's all it is. There's energy everywhere, and all you gotta do is tell it what to do."

I'd never heard Lasory sound so cheerful and matter-of-factly before.

"Seems simple enough, right?"

I nodded.

"Try it! I have a bunch of energy consolidated right here. Do anything with it."

That's when I froze. Sure I get how it works, but I have no clue how to do it. It was kind of like slapping a jet in front of someone and telling them to fly it. Except in this case, I don't even know where the buttons are.

Lasory had a smug look on his face, and wouldn't budge when I gave him a pleading, confused look.

I held out my hands and strained myself like I was constipated trying to get the little orb to move.

It was unsuccessful.

He laughed aloud, which made me cringe and turn red.

"The key is to feel the energy. Connect to it. Know it's there. Understand it."

I tried closing my eyes and envisioning the orb in his hand before me. I just felt stupid and clueless, and definitely didn't "feel" the presence of the "energy". The only thing I felt was helpless.

I groaned in defeat. "I- I don't know what I'm doing here. Throw me a bone."

Lasory grinned. "Touch it."

Tentatively, I reached my hand out, afraid the orb would shock me or explode or... something.

When my fingertips reached the glowing ball of energy, it made a zapping sound. It was natural reaction to whip my hand back, but I then realized I didn't feel anything.

The orb slowly became a baby blue color.

I looked up at Lasory, who was grinning ear to ear at this point.

He then handed me the orb. I nearly dropped it, and it was extremely difficult to keep in my hands.

It was weightless. I could almost feel a little tiny pressure from it, but it seemed to not like being in my grasp, wanting almost to slip through my fingers and vanish.

The now blue orb tingled my fingers, which made me giggle a little. C'mon it felt weird!

It began to zap and spark at my skin, wildly enough to make me feel like it would feel like getting tased, but it started to get warm and ticklish.

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I could barely keep the ball of energy in my hands while dying of laughter, which made my vision start to blur and then I started to lose balance as I doubled over from the feeling of the orb.

Lasory caught me and I sobered up, even though he was red-faced and laughing too.

"I haven't heard you laugh in a while, it's contagious."

I smiled back at him as he wiped the tear coming down my cheek. I couldn't exactly do it myself given that my hands are full.

When I looked back to my hands, the orb was now a much deeper and more saturated blue, with a little hint of purple, and it almost seemed to be on fire, with translucent licks of energy traveling up to the top.

What really tripped me out was my hands. They had this indigo haze around them that dripped into the grass.

"Whoooaaaah," I gawked like a child, astounded by what was happening to me.

Lasory chuckled. "Crush the orb."

This command confused me, but I obeyed. I squeezed my hand, and the orb just popped out.

I dove to catch it, hitting the grass abruptly, and not catching anything.

Lasory laughed out loud, then quickly covered his mouth to stop.

When I stood, the orb was just floating there.

Ah... so I'm an idiot. Got it.

So I tried again, this time with a lot more force using both hands, and closed my eyes for what might happen.

I felt an immense warmth, and Lasory clapped a little.

The orb was gone, and my hands seemed to have... soaked up its energy.

My veins up to my elbows were glowing the same color, and from my wrists to my fingertips was a slow, tame fire that felt like nothing at all, but almost whispered.

My jaw was on the floor. I didn't want to move my hands or fingers for fear that it would dispel the surreal sight before me, so I stood there frozen in fear.

Lasory saw my tenseness and smiled, lightly holding my wrist and moving my arm in circles. Nothing happened to the glowing flame.

"Wha... what did you do... what did I do...?"

He couldn't get rid of his ear-to-ear grin at this point. I couldn't tell if he was having fun teaching or getting a kick out of me being just plain stupid.

"You absorbed some energy. Think about it like a spring. All you have to do is release the tension."

I gave him a blank look, expecting him to say how I was supposed to do that, but instead all I got was the smug look on his face.

I sighed.

Yet another opportunity to make a total fool of myself.

Yay!

Well, since my arms have all this energy in them, maybe I could get rid of it by being exactly what he said: a spring.

So, pulling my arms back, I tensed my muscles and my whole body, readying my stance as best I could, half-expecting to be blown backward.

Along with the indigo flame that crawled along my skin, my arms and fingers now danced with the same tingly sparks as before.

Without giving myself time to hesitate, I grimaced and threw my arms and upper body forward, releasing all that energy at once.

I felt all of that magic leave me, but I also felt cool wind against my face, and when I opened my eyes, I realized only barely in time that I was in the air, just about touching the ground, but moving waayyyy too fast.

Not a moment later, I was tumbling across the field, and I flipped probably two or three times, knocking my head and heels in the dirt.

Other than a few scrapes and nicks, I was fine, just shaken up. Pun not intended.

After that, Lasory dusted me off and called it quits for the day.

"We'll try some more tomorrow. It's gonna rain soon anyways."

I'd noticed the gloomy skies, which now held clouds that looked to be holding on to a week's worth of rain.

As the adrenaline of being violently thrown through the grass wore off, I didn't feel pain. My brain was hard-wired on the realization that... I just did magic!

Granted, it went up in flames spectacularly, as is my style, but I did it! And all I can think of is that I want to do more. I was on a high, and I felt like a little kid, dreaming of all the things I could do with it and all I'll learn.

Perhaps, I had a reason to live.

~

Hyaru

I sat at the edge of the bustling city with my hood up.

I used to hate this cloak, but honestly I've come to quite like it. It's edgy, it's cool, it makes me feel good, and most importantly, it keeps me unseen.

Out here was just a packed-in dirt road, one devoid of people, and I was free of anyone for a few hundred feet. I'm not unsociable, but once again, I'm kind of in hiding here.

And being out in this city specifically is risky as all hell. I'd be burned at the stake if I was caught out here by anyone. There would be no kind passerby.

It gets like that when you're a wanted fugitive in three countries. Maybe more.

I checked my pocket watch.

If she doesn't show up soon, I'll have to leave.

But of course, she was fashionably late. As always.

There was a rustling in the trees behind me, and a blur of a figure sprung out of them and used my shoulders as a vaulting mount to hop right before me.

She stood proudly with her hands at her hips, and I couldn't help but jump up and throw my arms around her.

"Ellice!" I shouted as she giggled and returned my hug. The last time we hugged, I was taller than her, but now she had me just about matched in height.

When we pulled back, I got a good look at her. She was in gray, like always, to match her short and silvery hair, wearing a fur coat that exposed her entire midriff and the center of her torso - though she covered her breasts.

My eyes moved on their own, glazing over her plenty-exposed and well-defined abs and arm muscles, and I raised my eyebrows.

"Like what you see?" She teased with a grin.

"Of course, my love," I grinned back.

"It's been too long since I've heard you say that."

Her voice had a strong, independent depth to it. Friendly, but mischievous and prideful. That's how I'd describe Ellice.

She leaned in towards me, the devilish mischievousness in her eyes burning wildly, and gave me a small kiss.

We smiled at each other, remembering how good that felt, and knowing how much we both missed being a couple.

"This isn't goodbye!"

"I know!"

We smiled through our tears.

"I'll give you a real kiss next time I see you. I promise."

"I'll be strong enough to deserve it. I promise."

"So," she began with the question I've been waiting for so long to hear. "Is it time?"

I smirked. "Time for what?"

She returned with a smirk doubly mischievous. "For us to round up the gang. It's time we got together and started a revolution."

I nodded slowly. "Before, I was blind to the lifeless, tired, dead eyes of Khazal's people. I was blind to let Clive get to the position he's in, and I've decided that enough is enough."

Ellice was nearly bouncing, and she was grinning like a wild maniac, her canines showing and her ears perked up.

"My people need me, and I realize that it's not alright for me to be in hiding any longer."

Now she was really bouncing, doing a dance in circles, which, for a warrior wolf-woman who looked like she could turn around and snap a tree in half with her pinky, was a bit out of character.

"Ellice," I grabbed her hands, and she turned a little pink, but looked me dead in the eye, awaiting the magic words.

"I'm going to become King. Will you help me?"