cascade | kotlc

3. Closer Affinity

June woke up in Everglen. Fitz was carrying her in his arms, and she instinctively blushed. She groaned and sat up.

"Oh, you're awake," Fitz said, gently setting her on the couch. "You've just arrived. We're just waiting for Biana to- do what she's been doing for the past four hours."

"Where's Biana?" she asked, scrubbing her eyes.

"Right here!" Biana shouted.

The air shimmered in fron tof them, and Biana seemed to appear out of nowhere. She twirled, making her pale pink gown flare before she disappeared again, like a ghostly ballerina.

June looked around and saw Sophie and Keefe standing together. "What happened?" she murmured to them. "Did Greyfell and Silveny get together?"

Sophie winced. "Silveny had a tracker hidden in her tail, and that's why Greyfell was trying to kill her. You... saw the memories too, right?"

She nodded faintly.

"Well... hopefully they're okay now. I don't know. But don't dwell on it, June. It's the past."

"I know."

"I'm a Vanisher now -- can you believe it?" she asked, though only her head blinked back into sight. She scowled at where her body should be. "I guess I'm still getting the hang of it."

"Of course you are," Della told her, appearing beside her daughter with a graceful swish. "It takes years to perfect the skill -- though I must say, you're showing incredible control. Alvar took days before he could vanish completely, and he was a year older than you when he manifested."

"Wait, Biana, vanish again?" June asked her. After she complied, she frowned at the air. "Hold up some fingers. Okay -- you're holding up three, aren't you?"

Biana reappeared, this time with her complete body. "Yeah, how'd you know that?"

"Air tracking," June said with a small smile. "It's like echolocation, except with air strikes. This is useful, I'll keep it in mind."

Biana nodded before she vanished again.

"Ugh, they've been at it all day," Fitz grumbled. "It's been hours of 'look -- I'm invisible. Now I'm not! Now I am!'"

Biana rolled her eyes as she reappeared. "Like you were any less annoying with your 'I can tell you what you're thinking right now! And now! And now!'"

Keefe snorted.

"Don't get so cocky, Mr. 'I keep laughing and crying at the same time'!"

June clutched her stomach in laughter as she rolled off the couch. "And this is why I didn't tell anybody about my Gusting," she said. "Figured everything out myself without a Mentor. And Elemental powers are supposed to be hard to control."

"With someone as chaotic as you, you'd easily be able to master Gusting," Keefe said. "I'd be more concerned if you got an actually calm ability. There's no way you could be an Empath."

"And there's no way you could be a Guster," she countered.

"So I guess this means you'll start Vanishing sessions, right?" Sophie asked, changing the subject.

"Yes," Alden agreed. "I guess I'll have to talk to Dame Alina about possible Mentors."

He sounded less than thrilled about it, though Keefe and Fitz and June found it hilarious. It was pure entertainment every time he tried to talk to Dame Alina. Alden would never look at her, which just made her angry, which meant she'd actively try to get Alden to look at her, and it was absolutely hysterical.