Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters.
-The Enchanter of Fairy Tail-
Chapter 40: Ice Extinction
Year: X756. 28 years till Canon begins.
Cade POV:
It had been around four weeks since I had successfully strengthened my hearing. I had moved on to trying to strengthen my sense of taste, touch and smell mainly because I felt that they wouldn't take too long to strengthen successfully.
'How hard can it be?' I thought to myself as I took the idea of getting them done and out of the way with.
Turns out it was harder than it sounded. Quite a bit harder.
I found myself struggling at what I could possibly do to enhance my sense of taste. As such, that was the next one I chose to learn.
The training required to learn it was a series of tests in which I was blindfolded and was asked to try certain foods. The foods however, may be a bit spicier or salty than they usually would so I had to guess whether they were or not. Honestly, I thoughtfully enjoyed such training sessions.
The foods I was asked to eat for it was quite nice, and it tasted like they were cooked by professionals. I got to have a few different dishes: Some fish that had been caught and cooked, sometimes they may have had some salt sprinkled over it. There was also a lovely pepper dish that could sometimes have some spices mixed on it. When it came to the spices, I had to guess which spices in particular were blended in with the dish.
Despite this potentially being the easiest sort of training one could ever get in their life, I found it quite challenging to get used to the hot spices and trying to tell them apart from each other. Also I could only really eat so much before I was stuffed full, so there was little I could do each day in regards to that.
Some good out of all this was that since this was eating related, I could do it at breakfast and dinner! That did mean that my diet here consisted of mostly salty and spicy related food, but hey, at least it was healthy.
It took some time to get used to the different flavours of food, but when I did it became easy enough for me to tell the different types of food and the spices/salt that was used. Around eight days after starting, I was able to complete strengthening my sense of taste.
The next sense I focused on strengthening after that was my sense of touch.
This was not as hard as my sense of hearing but a bit trickier than my sense of taste. Master Han made me wear a blindfold (seriously what is it with this man and blindfolding people?), and instructed me to touch certain metals that he summoned with his magic. The twist was that the metals were either steel, iron or carbon. Also Master Han made sure to layer them with either of the other two metals and I had to tell what kind of metal was in it.
While I thought it was first impossible at first, Han gave me a bit of advice and told me that I could use my magic to sense the metal and get a better idea of what kind of metals were in it. This was way harder than he said, as I found myself struggling to know which metals were which.
To successfully pull it off, I had to stroke my hands along the metal and clear my mind to focus right. Then by using my magic, I would be able to almost feel the difference in each metallic property I felt; thus being able to feel the difference in the metals. Of course this took time to accomplish, around a full week.
The most recent sense I had strengthened after that was my sense of smell. Again, on the surface this seemed like a perplexing sense to strengthen. What was I suppose to do? Smell to figure what certain things were while being blindfolded?
Well yes actually.
I was not surprised to see Han bring out the blindfold I had been using for the last few weeks when I said that we would be tackling the sense of smell next. Perhaps this was the only time he had ever gotten to use such an item since he had acquired it who knows how long ago.
Han made me smell certain things, and I had to figure out what they were. This would have been pathetically easy… That is if I didn't have a cold the day after we started.
Coming at the worst possible time, mainly due to the changing from autumn to winter; I had gained a case of the sniffles. Badly as well.
This practically made it near impossible for me to smell even the most common things. I didn't give up on the training, as I kept trying to see if I could determine the what the smells that Master Han was holding up to my nose.
Unfortunately this was unsuccessful. I had to wait a whole week for the cold to go away! After that however, the rest of the training for strengthening my sense of smell was pretty damn easy. It took me four more days after the cold went away for me to figure out what the smells were.
Upon being able to call out exactly what kind of perfumes Master Han was spraying around my nose, he found me successful in being able to strengthen my sense of smell.
And with that, all that was left was my sense of sight. I had a feeling that this might be the most tricky one to strengthen out of them all.
Hearing I understood the gist of, taste was easy enough to figure out, touch was tricky but doable and smell was only hard because of the cold I had while we were going through it. But then there was sight.
You see I have pretty good vision. Never needed glasses, neither did my father or my mother. That begged the question. How would my sight get strengthened and what would it be like? Would I be able to see in great distances? See the blades of grass on the hills opposite of our manor? Such questions refused to leave my mind as I was now heading to where Master Han was, that being outside of the monastery.
As I made my way through the monastery and out to where he was in the back square. I saw that the Master was standing up facing away from me and had his arms crossed.
Han had successfully recovered from his time in the wheelchair and he was now able to stand up strong just as he was able to do before the incident. His magic had also now been fully recovered so he was back to full strength.
"Master Han." I greeted with a kind nod as I came up to him.
"Ah, greetings young Cade." He welcomed as he turned around to greet me. "Ready for todays training?"
"Yes I am. What will you have me do today?" I asked with interest. "Hopefully nothing to do with blindfolds… This is the sense of sight after all."
Han gave me a soft chuckle. "Nothing like that for this sense. It will be the trickiest one yet, but thankfully no blindfolds are required for this." He assured me.
"Well that's a relief." I muttered with a sigh of relief. "So what will we be doing here to help strengthen my vision?" I questioned with curiosity.
"Your training will not be taking place here. We shall be heading outside for this." Han informed me.
"Really?" That took me by surprise. Wasn't expecting to be taken outside for this.
"Will we be heading off just now? I haven't told my mother that we will be heading out." I explained as I pointed behind me to the monastery.
"I actually told her yesterday after dinner when you went upstairs. She is aware that we may not be back until later."
"Oh good. Just didn't want to worry her, that's all." I said with a nod.
"Well then let's get going. Wouldn't want to keep you here any longer than you should be." Master Han said.
With that said, me and Master Han made our way down and through the village, until we got to the pathway that leads to the tunnel that takes you out of the village.
Since the kidnapping a few weeks ago, Elder Lotho had the village checked for any ways that Jones could have snuck in. The walls and tunnels were checked and they came up with nothing of interest. However, one wizard did check the small lake near the cherry trees and found a deep dark tunnel that he most likely came through. That was enough information for the Elder, as he then had the tunnel collapse in on itself by using magic.
He had also upped security near the main entrance the Seekers used. Instead of one guard, there was now three guards there monitoring the door from the inside, with a bit of magic to monitor the outside area as well.
When we made it to the door that led out, the Seekers guarding the entrance recognised the both of us, and stood aside to let us past. The both of us then exited the mountain and now stood in the outside world yet again, the rush of cool fresh air hitting our faces.
I breathed it in, and a feeling of comfort and tranquility washed over me. It was nice to breath this stuff in after being in a giant rock for around a whole month now. Master Han didn't seem to share the same experience as I. If he was happy being in the fresh air again, his facial expression didn't show it.
"So where are we headed?" I asked as I looked up at the man.
"We'll be heading out though the forest and where we can overlook the hills. Mato will be there and he shall be assisting us for this." Han explained as he began to move forward through the trees.
I quickly followed him through the trees to not get left behind. It would be easy to lose track of where you are going in this place due to a large lack of paths and notable landmarks. We seemed to take a different path than the one that me and Mato took when we ran out to rescue Fea weeks ago.
It took a bit shorter to cross the forest and when we emerged from the trees, we came out on some hills that overlooked the path which me and Mato fought the bandits. Further ahead than that, there was the small batch of trees that I fought Jones in.
Seeing that made me think back to the fight and the mark that Jones left me. A chill ran down my spine and came down to my feet before disappearing. I also found myself stroking my finger along my scar while thinking about the seconds that lead up to me getting it.
I was cut off from my thoughts by a voice.
"Finished reminiscing?" Spoke Master Han with an impatient and abrupt voice. "We have training to do."
"O-Oh right. Sorry Master Han." I apologised quickly.
'Is it me or is he acting differently than he usually does?' I thought with confusion. 'Master Han is usually so assuring and encouraging.'
"So, where's Mato at then?" I asked as I looked around the area we were in.
"He shall be here shortly. I told him to come here when he has finished his work with Redd today." Han stated simply. "He will be doing various tasks from afar, and your training will be relating to those tasks in question."
"I see… So my training for strengthening right will be complete when I am able to do these tasks successfully?" I inquired to Master Han.
"Indeed. Ah, here he comes now." Han remarked looking over my shoulder.
I turned around and saw Mato walking towards the both of us. "Cade, Master Han." He greeted us politely when he approached us. "How can I help you both today?" He questioned.
"Good to see you Mato." Master Han then snapped his fingers together, and two large chalkboards appeared in his hand along with some chalk. "I need you to take these boards and go stand a good few meters away from here. When you get there, write a series of numbers of letters on them and hold then up to Cade."
"And I'm suppose to try to read them out to you?" I suspected as much when Han summoned the chalkboards.
"Yes, that is your task today. There will be other sessions to strengthen your vision, but we will focus on this one today. Got it?" He spoke up to me.
"Yes of course." I quickly nodded my head in agreement.
With that, Mato took the chalk boards along with the chalk and walked away a good few meters before stopping and writing a series of symbols on the boards of which I couldn't see as he was covering them.
He then held them up to me, meaning I had to try and read them out. Before I could though, a curious thought crossed my mind.
"Wait… Master Han? Are you able to read what's written on the chalkboards?" The last thing I wanted as for us both to not be able to make out what was written on them.
"Of course. I've done this training before in the past remember?" He spoke with a sigh of disappointment.
"Ah right. I'll… just begin then…" I said as I looked forward to try and make out the words and letters on the boards. There were four on there, two on each board
'Hmm, let's see here… I can't tell if that first symbol is an 3 or an E. Is the second symbol meant to be a 1 or a I? I think the third is meant to be a G. As for the fourth one… man that's hard to make out. Could maybe be a F, 7 or a J…' I thought carefully about this.
"Alright I have an answer. The letters and number are – from left to right: 3, 1, G, J." I confirmed to Master Han.
"Unfortunately you are incorrect Cade." He answered immediately after me saying that. "The blackboards read E, I, G, F. No numbers written on there at all." He then gave me a solemn sigh. "No need to worry, we can just try again."
Master Han then waved his hand in the air while facing Mato so he could see. Mato seemed to understand what Han wanted, and he erased the letters off the board and began to write new ones.
"Well we have plenty time here. Here's some more symbols for you." Han gestured his hand for me to continue.
And so for the next two hours, I tried to figure out what the symbols Mato was writing on the boards were. I got a few symbols write most of the time, but I was unable to read them all out. I asked Han for some tips or advice on this, and he said that there wasn't much above he could give me.
After I failed another attempt, Mato chose to come over and see the both of us. As he was walking to us, Master Han chose to speak up.
"I'll be back in a few minutes. I have to go and check something." He gave a quick apology, as he made his way over to the forest behind the both of us.
As he walked over to the trees, I found myself very curious as to why Master Han was acting so strangely. He seemed… off today.
"Can't say I blame you for thinking that. What? It was obvious based on that bewildered expression on your face." Came Mato from behind me.
"What's the deal with Master Han all of a sudden? Since we came outside he's been acting really weird?" I inquired as I turned around to Mato.
"Can't tell you. I'm just as lost as you are. Years back the both us were asked by the Elder to go run an errand at Aster Village. Master Han did seem to be a lot more quiet and reserved. As far as I can remember he's only been out of the village a few times before. Me and you are the only ones that have actually gone out with him before."
"I would have thought that he'd like being outside. In fact he told me one time that he often goes out and brings back all sorts of stuff to Lavender Village, like fancy clothes! Well he didn't tell me directly, but he heavily intended it." I explained back.
"Perhaps he has bad memories out here in the open world. I have chosen not to pry into his life outside the village that much. It might be best if you avoid doing such things."
I nodded in understanding.
Truth be told, I had always been curious about certain things with certain people. I had heard murmurs in the guild that Master Makarov always wished that Ivan would stop being so reclusive (and maybe being a jerk.) Considering that the man never brought up his wife before, I assumed that she maybe died when Ivan was young and that might have effected him. Still thought, I respected the Master's privacy and chose not pry.
'Still… Even if Han had some sort of unfortunate event that took place outside the village, would he really hate being outside the entire time? Surely just being under the rays of the sun and the fresh wind on his face wouldn't bother him? It seems like he hates the outdoors altogether.'
Just then, I heard the sound of the trees rummaging behind us. Master Han then emerged and looked like he was ready to continue with the training. He surprised me however by what he said next.
"I'm afraid we will have to suspend training for today. I've… just remembered that I have something on today back at the village." He said sadly. He then snapped his fingers and made the chalk and chalkboards disappear into his Requip storage.
"Oh… right." I said to no one really. Mostly the thin air around me. "That's a shame… was hoping to do more today." I admitted to Master Han.
Mato said nothing, but I could feel that he too was curious about Han's change in personality. This really must not happen every so often. Based on the age the golden fire wizard is, I assumed that he had been acquainted with him him for a good few years.
That thought actually reminded me of something that I had been meaning to do but had forgotten for the last few weeks now. Might as well do it now before I forget again.
"Hey Mato?" I spoke up to the man getting his attention. "Think you could help me with something if you aren't going to be busy for the rest of the day?" I asked curiosity.
Mato double blinked as if he was surprised to hear that. "You need my help? Oh, well yes I can help you. But does it need to be out here?" He wondered.
"Well not really…" I scratched my head while saying that. "But I think the much larger open space and fresh air will be nice for a change. I mean we can do it inside if you really want I don't really mind."
"Well I have nothing else on my schedule today. Plus I don't mind staying outside here for it." Mato then turned round to see Master Han's thoughts on this whole decision. "Do you have any issues with this Master Han?"
"None by me. Just make sure you are back in the village before sundown." Master Han said, as he turned to walk away from me, him later holding up a hand to say farewell to the both of us.
When he had left through the trees, Mato turned to address me. "So what was this thing that you needed help with? You've gotten me curious since you asked me."
"I was thinking back to the fight we had for my entry test to all this. I've been curious about a certain move you used on me. What was it called… Golden Fire Extinction? Well I'll get to straight to the point: I'd like to learn it."
Mato queried his head. "What?"
"Well at least a move that is somewhat similar to it. I think it'd be a good addition for my move pool. Plus it's pretty powerful." I thought back to when I was flown through the air due to the sheer strength of the move.
Mato's shock seemed to have worn off and he now gave me a interesting look. "Really now? I didn't think that you would be interested in my magic attacks like that. Still though, I'm not one to turn down a request like that so I'll help you out learn the move." He answered for me.
"Alright! Thanks a lot Mato." I beamed at the man.
Mato gave me a nod, before clearing his throat. "Alright then. Now you don't actually have to be flying on a cloud made out of fire to use the move like I did against you. You just need to build up some speed and momentum in the air and be heading towards the ground. When reaching the ground I had my magic explode outwards causing a huge wave of Golden Fire to be sent your way." Mato explained to me.
"Another thing you should know is that pulling off the move with ice may not be exactly the same as when it's done with my fire. When I did it I caused fire to be sent out around me. That was easy enough as it's a gaseous material, but your ice is solid so I doubt It'll work the same way. You may have to work around that." He followed on saying.
"I see… Didn't even consider that." I muttered in a bit of surprise. "Well guess we better get started. I won't be learning the spell until we actually begin."
"Now how do you want to go about this? Do you just want me to demonstrate the spell to you again?" Mato asked me.
"If that's no issue then sure." I confirmed to the fire wizard.
Mato then stepped back a few metres and got into a position that had him bend one knee down to the ground. "Golden Fire Cloud!" Mato cried as he summoned a cloud of fire that he then used to bring himself up into the air. When Mato was a few metres in the sky, he canceled his spell before he then began to fall back to the ground.
Mato then powered up his magic and casted the spell I was interested in. "Golden Fire Extinction!" He shouted as his fist ignited into colourful yellow golden flames, before he brought it down to the ground with a punch.
Just like a few weeks ago when I had last seen the move, a large explosion of hot golden fire was sent out all around Mato. Thankfully myself and trees were far enough away to where the fire did not reach. Even from the distance I was, I could still feel the hot, sweltering fire. If Fea was not there to patch me up that day, I might have had some permanent injuries.
"Damn that's hot!" I winced as the heat from the fire hit me. When the spell had finished casting, Mato stood back up and approached me.
"So. What do you think?" He asked me. "Think you can learn it well enough?"
I smirked. "I'll never know unless I try."
Mato gave a chuckle before he began to explain the basics of the spell to me.
"When you destroyed my Golden Fire Cloud it gave me time to channel the fire in the air into my attack which made it more powerful. I'm not sure if you can do a similar sort of thing with your ice." Mato explained with a frown. "Anyway, why don't you see if you can replicate the move?" He suggested.
"Alright then." I walked a bit away from where Mato was and prepared to cast the spell.
Very few of my ice spells were actually originally created by myself. I will admit that a good 70% of them have been taken from books that I have read that relate to Ice Magic. Hey, the wizards that used the magic freely published it for people to read so I'm not feeling guilty of anything. It did mean that it was a bit harder to learn some original spells when it came down to it though. Hopefully this spell wouldn't be that much trouble to learn.
When I stopped walking away from where Mato was, I crouched down just like he did and raised my fist up in the air and filled it to the brim with magic power. I then shouted loudly and brought my fist down to the ground.
"Ice Extinction!" I shouted with all my might.
This caused a small bit of ice to go flying out from where my fist landed. Not exactly what I was hoping for.
'Oh… Well that could have been better.' I admitted internally. 'Hmm… Was it not using enough magic for it?' I wondered.
"Well that wasn't half bad for a first attempt." Said Mato as he approached me. "You got some ice out which is better than nothing."
"Not sure where I went wrong honestly. Felt like I done everything the way you done it." I stated to Mato. "I knelt down, raised my fist, channeled it with magic, then brought it down to the ground and tried to make the ice explode out all around me. That is how you did it right?"
"Indeed. Perhaps a few more attempts will help you master it." Mato suggested. "We have a few more hours of daylight left. Let's see if you improve on the spell."
And so for the next few hours Mato would cast his Golden Fire Extinction and I would try to replicate the spell the best I could. Unfortunately almost of these attempts failed with me slamming my fist on the ground with no ice coming out, creating a rather awkward moment. It was after my most recent attempt, that I slumped down on the ground to think about what I was doing wrong.
"Man… What's going wrong here?" I muttered as I cusped my hands in my chin and frowned. "I swear I'm doing everything right."
"I've been thinking about that as well. I didn't think your technique was the problem." Remarked Mato as he came up to me.
"What?" I said in confusion. "Well, what do you think it is then?" I asked with curiosity.
"Perhaps… you should be trying something different when you cast the move." Mato explained as he folded his arms. I had a look of interest about that, and Mato chose to elaborate further. "You've been trying to expel a lot of ice outwards when you cast the move. Instead why not try something different? Such as… maybe a lot of ice spikes coming up from the ground?"
I thought about this with interest.
'Hmm… Choosing to summon a lot of spikes from the ground to blast away my opponents instead of casting ice outwards like how Mato does… I guess it could work just as well. And I suppose that I could use my Henshin spell to turn it into stone. Yes… now that I think about it, if I does work then it may turn out better than how Mato does it.'
"Huh, that might just work. I'll give it a shot and see how it goes." I nodded as I walked over to try the spell in a different spot.
Upon reaching a spot that didn't have a small crater that was made due to my fist, I took a deep breath before crouching down and raising up my fist while channeling it with magic. I then out a cry and brought my fist down to the ground while taking in the advice Mato had offered.
"Ice Extinction!"
When my fist crashed to the ground I made sure to focus my magic into the ground instead of the air around me to summon the barrage of spikes. I did feel the ground shake a little when I casted the spell. When the shaking subsided, I stood back up and looked around.
Suffice to say, I was impressed.
There were dozens of ice spikes that had been erupted from the ground and were now spreading out in all around me. The spike themselves didn't look like they would outright kill someone who was in the range, but they would rather throw them all back. This seemed to be a good crowd control spell if I got it working; good for fighting lots of annoying small creatures.
"Oh? Not bad, not bad." Mato approved as he looked at my spell from a distance. "Took a few attempts but you got there eventually." He then came up and inspected the spikes. Mato casted some Golden Fire on his hand before he then took a clean slice at my ice turning it into slush and water immediately. "The thickness and temperature of the ice leaves a bit to be desired however."
"Well the idea is that I'll be turning this into stone in the future. In fact, it may only be a few days at this point." I smirked at the idea. "It's probably because I summoned so many ice spikes at once while casting the spell. Haven't really focused on summoning so many ice based attacks with one simple spell cast. That may be something to work on when I get back to Magnolia." I muttered as I put a finger on my chin.
"For now I think we'd be best heading back to Lavender Village now. The suns setting, and I'd rather not be out here with everyone wondering where we are." Mato said as he looked to see the sun setting to the west, the sky turning crimson.
"That might be for the best. I guess I can keep practicing on this spell another time in the future." I stated, before I chose to follow Mato back through the trees to Lavender Village.
As we were walking back there, Mato chose to speak to me.
"So how long until your birthday then Cade? We're coming up to the end of September now. It won't be long until your friends are invited here."
"Not long now, it's September the 24th right now, so that's ten days until I turn fourteen. I'll be asking Elder Lotho to send out a Seeker to request them on the 27th."
"Well I'm interested to see what kind of friends you have made in your life as a guild wizard. Must be hard doing jobs 24/7."
"Actually you don't need to do jobs every single day Mato. Most jobs would pay enough for the average person to pay for rent and food for a month. S-Class Wizards would be able to do an S-Class job to pay for the essentials for around a few months at a time. Also there's the fact that some jobs take you all around the country." I explained as we walked through the thick trees.
"And are you an S-Class Wizard?" Mato inquired.
"Nah. I'd say I'm around B-Class myself. I've got a friend that's an S-Class Wizard though. He's kept asking me to go on jobs with him but I've turned him down as I don't think I'm strong enough yet. Maybe when I get back to Magnolia I'll take on a A-Class job for the first time."
"It's good that you know your own limits. But do make sure that you take harder jobs at some point, else you may struggle to challenge yourself." Mato informed me.
We both walked in silence for a moment before Mato spoke up to me again. "Tell me Cade. What is it like being in a guild? I've just always wondered since learning about them at a young age. Is it a good experience?"
I gave Mato a grin. "You bet! Being in a guild isn't just about making the money and getting stronger; It's about the friends and good memories that you make when you join. Being in a guild is like having an extra family alongside you, no matter what happens they'll always be there to back you up. It's something that I don't think many other places offer."
"I wonder if I would have joined a guild if I had been born on the outside world? Perhaps I would have made S-a class myself!" Mato replied with a laugh.
"Well based on what I saw in the test I had against you, I think you'd make S-Class." I said giving Mato a slap on the back. "You think I'd be strong enough if being a Seeker if I was born in Lavender Village?"
"I think you'd have what it takes. You've got the strength and the determination to be a successful Seeker. Plus you rescued Fea from a group of bandits so I think that would automatically get you in as a Seeker." Mato answered.
By now the both of us were in the thick of the forest and were about halfway back to the village gate. Small spots of sunlight shined through the trees which lit up the path for us as we were walking. While we were moving, I chose to speak up to Mato about the potential future for the village.
"Say Mato? What do you think would happen if the villagers have to leave the village due to the risk of being exposed in the future by criminals?"
"Good question. I think if it came down to it we'd be just fine. Our ancestors were able to survive generations ago on the outside world with hardly any outside help. I think we can easily survive again. Not to mention that Aster Village now exists so I'm sure potential trade with them would help immensely." He answered for me.
"If we were going to leave the village soon, it would have to be after winter and during the middle of spring going into summer. It would be far too cold for us to get used to the climate outside again. It would be better if we were going into much warmer temperatures, and we would be able to plant fruits and vegetables in farms." He followed on.
"While the near future of our village is uncertain, I have faith that we will endure and survive just like we always did in the past." He concluded.
"I might actually come back here at some point in my future. I'll maybe end up coming here to the forest door to see if anyone is still in the mountain. Maybe leave a note if not so you don't confuse me." I joked as we had now approached the doors that led back into the mountain.
With a quick approval from the Seekers guarding the entrance, we re-entered the village and made our way down to the village square where we would part ways for the day.
When we got there, I gave Mato a quick farewell before turning back to the monastery where my mother was.
'I hope Master Han told my mother about the fact that I was staying out with Mato for so long there. She would have been worried about me for a while had he not.' I thought with a tint of fear as I walked along the path back to the monastery.
While walking, I heard a familiar voice to my right.
"Cade! There you are! I was looking all over for you." I turned around and saw Fea to my right, who had just came out of a building. The library by the looks of it.
"Oh, hi Fea. I was outside with Mato and Master Han just there. I've only just came back in." I explained to her casually.
"Oh." Fea said with a look of surprise and also a frown upon her hearing that. "Ever since I was kidnapped my father has banned me from going outside the village. My own safety I know… but I really want to see the sun again." She sighed at the idea.
Fea then came up to me and gave me a nudge with her shoulder. "So where are you going now?"
"I'll be heading back up to the monastery for the rest of the day."
"Well I think I shall accompany you there." She said with a thin smile, as she also covered her mouth with a hand. "After that I need to head back to my house to see my father about something."
"Sound fine by me." I agreed, as we both then walked back to the monastery.
"Excuse me Cade?" Fea spoke up to me as we were walking back. "I was curious… will you be particularly busy these next few days?" She said carefully.
"Well I'll be training with Master Han to strengthen my sight. Also it's my 14th birthday coming up so I'll be quite busy leading up to that."
"How so?" Fea inquired.
"Well I got approval by your father to invite some friends of mine over here leading up to my birthday!" I said with a grin. "I was going to ask for them to come here in around two days time. You know, I think the three of you will get along just fine." I said to Fea as we turned a corner.
"You'll be inviting friends?" Fea remarked with interest. "What are their names?"
"Lilly and Cornelia. I've known them for years! I can still clearly remember how it was that we met." I said as I began to think back on the days that I met the both of them.
"G-Girls?!" Fea exclaimed suddenly.
"Yup." I said casually, not catching onto her expression.
The both of us were now standing at the steps that led up to the monastery. I gave a quick wave to the abashed and confused Fea. "Well see ya around Fea!" As I casted Soft and Soar to get me up the stairs in a matter of seconds.
No POV:
'G-Girls!? A-And Cade has known them both throughout his whole life?!' Fea thought with fear.
Fea began to quickly turn red in embarrassment upon thinking about these girls.
'Ooh! If these girls have known Cade for so long then I bet they both feel really romantic towards him! This is terrible! How am I suppose to win his heart if they've known him for so long!?'
Fea began to quickly walk back to her fathers while thinking of a plan… and the image of Cade which she occasionally giggled and blushed at.
Quite a few ideas about how to go about this situation came up in her mind, but an important detail suddenly came to her, like it had struck her on the head.
'Wait… Cade has never mentioned these girls to me before! That must mean HE doesn't feel romantic towards them in any way! At the very least, none of them are romantically involved with him.' Fea realised.
'That means… There's still hope for me and him! We can still be together just like I thought weeks ago!'
Fea then imagined her and Cade holding each other and staring lovingly into each others eyes. She blushed profusely at the idea and sighed deeply. Fea then gave a half giggle before she then resumed heading back towards her home.
'Cade says that he'll have them here leading up to his birthday which is only in a few days! I have plenty of time to make a plan to win his heart before then!'
That's another chapter done! Do leave a review if you liked it.
The New Year is almost upon us, will you all be staying up tonight?
For some reason I found this chapter to be one of the hardest ones to write yet. Not sure why…
Anyway, we are nearing the end of the Lavender Village Arc. I know it's been a rather long one where we have been stuck in the same location for a while, but I wanted to take the story somewhere new rather than just in Magnolia.
Anyway, Lilly and Cornelia will be arriving in the next chapter! How will they react to the village? And how will Fea react to them?
You shall have to wait and see next week and in the New Year! Hope you liked this chapter!
