"Is that what I think it is?" I asked as I saw the curious item in front of me glowing slightly as I stared in shock.

"What?" Aranea questioned, the situation not yet sinking in as she also couldn't take her eyes off of what she was holding.

"No way... You've been granted a Vision. An Electro Vision." I said.

The reality of it didn't hit me until I finally spoke those words out loud.

"A Vision?" She asked me as she lowered it to look back at me in surprise. "Isn't that what you, Ayaka, and her older brother have?"

"Something like that." I began to explain. "I mean, I have a Pyro Vision. Lady Ayaka uses a Cryo Vision. Lastly, Lord Ayato carries with him a Hydro Vision."

Turning it over in her hands, she tilted her head in confusion for a moment.

"But why is this here? I thought that people could only gain one Vision in their life, if they ever do in the first place. Surely it can't be... Mine?"

"There's no question about it. It belongs to you." I confirmed for her.

"Then why is it impossible like you said?" She wondered.

"Well that's because it's been over a year since anyone has gained an Electro Vision." I answered. "Maybe it's all connected?" I questioned, lowering my voice somewhat.

"What is?"

Wondering to myself for a moment if I should tell her, I decided to let her know what I was thinking as she became more involved with the situation. Now that her newly obtained Electro Vision made her a part of this, whether she wanted to be or not. She had to know.

"The storm outside must be related to the Shogun's powers considering it's unnatural intensity. Plus the fact that Lord Ayato is dealing with something super serious over with the heads of the other clans... I think that, including this new Electro Vision, something is happening in Inazuma." I suggested.

"I don't get it. How can I be connected to something like this?" She asked. "This all seems so much bigger than me, like I'm out of place."

"Sorry, I'm as much in the dark as you are at the moment. I honestly wouldn't know how to answer that. Maybe we'll get more answers in the morning when Lord Ayato returns. You can talk to him, and let him know what's going on. He might know something, or at least I hope as much."

She became quiet for a moment as she stared blankly at the Electro Vision she held in her hands. In that moment, I realized that the sounds from the weather has weakened somewhat, and was finally beginning to slow down. It was as if this Electro Vision being given to her was the reason it can finally let things go back down to normal.

"Aranea? What's on your mind?" I asked before I could stop myself. "S- Sorry, I'm just being a bit nosy. You don't have to answer that."

"No. It's okay, really." She said as she looked up at me and moved closer. "I was just wondering... Why me? I mean, I'm not like you or Ayaka and much less like Ayato himself... So why would I have something granted to me that some people spend their whole lives yearning for?"

"I don't really know how to explain it. For us, it just happens." I tried to answer. "Unfortunately I can't be of much help there." I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"Thoma?" She said to catch my attention. "What happened to you?"

Pointing to my hand, I had pretty much forgotten what happened earlier when I felt that strong jolt of electricity course through me and burned my hands.

"Oh, you mean this? It's nothin-"

"You're hurt!" She said as she reached for my wrist and faced the palm of my hand upwards for her to see closer. "How did this happen?"

"Uh, well..." When I trailed off.

My eyes unconsciously glanced over to her new Electro Vision, she slowly put two and two together. This didn't go unnoticed by her and her eyes widened in shock and horror.

"No! I- I did this to you?" She realized.

"Wait, hold on. Aranea, calm down." I said as I held her by putting a hand on both of her shoulders and made direct eye contact. "I'm okay. You didn't mean to."

"But I hurt you! How can you say that when I'm the one that caus-" She tried to say, the pure guilt clear in her tone.

"It's no big deal. You just have to figure out how to control your new power. Look at it this way, when I'm all healed up soon, it won't even leave a scratch. That's how superficial it is. It doesn't even hurt and it looks worse than it really is... What I want to worry about most is you, do you think you'll be okay?" I asked her, switching the topic.

"Y- Yeah." She answered, the sudden change of the conversation surprising her at first. "But-"

"No buts. I'm okay. You were hurt worse than me and out in the weather for who knows how long. Lady Ayaka and I are here for you so let us know if you need anything. Promise?"

"I promise." She tells me with a small smile, one that I didn't know I had been wanting to see from her that much until now.

"S- So, um..." I tried to come up with something else to say to her but nothing came to mind right away. "You should get some rest. With everything you've been through today, you deserve it."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, you're right." She said, her smile faltering a little at those words.

Standing up towards the door to leave the room, I turned back to face Aranea one more time before I left.

"I'll go check on how Lady Ayaka is faring, she's been busy ever since she woke up to fix the damage to the roof because of the weather. I'll let her know that you've woken up. But I'll let you be the one to tell her about the new Electro Vision in the morning if you'd like?"

"Yes. Thank you so much, Thoma."

"Get some sleep." I said as I shut the door behind me.

When I walked out of the room, I let out a long and frustrated sigh.

'Why did I say that? I didn't want to go just yet...' I groaned. 'And... Was that my imagination, but was she also disappointed when I had said that? What if Aranea feels...'

"Thoma!" Lady Ayaka's voice called out to me. "Is everything okay? How is she doing?"

"Y- yeah. I was just, um, so I left the room to go find you." I began to say, stuttering as my mind became jumbled the more I thought about earlier.

"Is she okay?" Her voice asked me, full of concern.

"More than okay, she's just woken up." I said with a nod, which made her happy to hear.

"That's great news!" Lady Ayaka said with a big smile growing on her face.

"The only thing is, she doesn't remember much before I found her. It may take some time for her to recover. But in my opinion, I'm sure she'll be alright. She's a very strong person."

"I see." She said, as if she knew something and it caught my curiosity. "Thank you for taking care of Aranea. It means a lot. You're a good person, Thoma. I'm sure she appreciates it just the same."

"Lady Ayaka?" I asked, not knowing how to word my question properly.

"Yes?" She questioned, seemingly interested in what I had to say.

"Do you think that Aranea feels..." I trailed off as I felt my face begin to warm up, Lady Ayaka's curious eyes urging for me to continue. "Uh, wait, I forget what I was going to ask. Strange, ha." I added in a fake laugh and shrugged my shoulders.

"Yes. Very strange..." She said with a sigh, as if she wanted to hear more but decided not to push the topic any further.

"A- Anyways, how's the damage to the roof?" I asked to talk about something else. "The weather seems to have taken a turn for the better at least."

"Things are okay for now. I took care of everything, and it seems like the weather is even starting to slow down... But..."

"But what?"

"When the storm is over, I might need you to go out there and... Melt some of the ice. I might've gone a little overboard out of my desire to protect my father and mother's home you see..." She said as she avoided eye contact.

"How much ice?" I said, trying to suppress my laugh as I suddenly imagined a frozen estate in my mind.

"Enough." She said, clearly embarrassed to ask me to use my Pyro Vision. "Do you think you could, uh, take care of it before brother sees it? I wouldn't hear the end of it."

"Sure thing. I've got your back." I assured her.

"Thank you." She said. "Are you going back to sleep? It is getting pretty late."

"Yeah... I have to clear up a recreation of Dragonspine early in the morning, so I suppose some sleep can help me prepare for it."

"Oh! You're just as bad as brother in teasing me." Lady Ayaka rolled her eyes but smiled anyways.

"Well of course, can't miss that opportunity. Good night." I said with a short laugh as we parted ways.

Twitch: Enrita11

September 18th, 2023