The Path to Redemption

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝐹𝒾𝒻𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓃

↞･:*✵*:･↠

With each day of practice, I found myself becoming more powerful as energy surrounded me continuously. I'd allowed Lullaby to stay away from the cellar certain days, but on others, I forced her down to practice with me, showing off new moves that I had not used in combat before.

Lullaby seemed to enjoy the small matches we had, even if she had hated them at the start. They allowed her to use power that she could not show off out in the open, and, as much as she hated being confined to a room with no windows and little space to fly, she seemed to put that feeling aside as she came down more often, even if just to watch me train.

It was a good source of exercise for me, in addition to bettering my battle defenses and strategic options. From Aldous' book, I'd learned how to use moves that were far more complex than anything I'd ever been able to teach myself.

From his instructions, I'd learned how to form a shield of lightning, the energy humming around me as I willed it to surround my body, keeping me safe from whatever the enemy might use to attack me.

That technique had taken around a week to perfect. The first time I'd tried it, the attempt had backfired, sending me flying across the room as the electricity around me fought my demands. By the fourth try, however, I'd managed to get a weak barrier around myself, and by the seventh, I had a shield to protect myself from enemies.

I'd also discovered how to form a mini tornado with the wind currents I could control. By moving my hands in a circular motion, I could bend the air around me into a deadly natural disaster, though I hadn't quite managed to reach the point where the tornado was deadly yet—not that I wanted it to be.

This was mostly because I had limited space to work with, but also because it took a lot of concentration to form the small tornado. Controlling the wind once it was swirling around as a miniature typhoon was the challenging part, creating it was simple.

It'd been four weeks since I'd started training, and the same amount of time since Velut had left for his quest to find the others. He'd managed to send us a few notes, though the contents were ordinary topics such as the weather, how he was, and how his travels were. He never wrote much and never in full detail, but still, it was relieving to know he was all right.

Extending my hands, I was about to unleash a great blast of lightning onto Lullaby, who stood confidently waiting, only to be interrupted by the door to the cellar slamming open. I jumped at the sound, turning to see Gale standing in the doorway with a paper in his hand, looking shocked at how loud of a noise he'd made. He gave a small smile once he'd recovered from his surprise and walked toward me as Lullaby trotted up behind to see what the contents of the paper were—as if she could read.

"It's from Velut," Gale said, nodding to me as I took the paper from him. Scanning the words the paper held, I felt my chest lift with relief.

"He's coming back," I spoke in shock, rereading the note once more to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. "He's coming back!"

He was always set to come back, but this was earlier than we'd all anticipated. Had he faced no difficulties on his travels? Or had he faced so many he decided heading back with the few recruits he had was the better option? I'd find out once he arrived. Until then, I could only wonder.

"Yeah, he is," Gale chuckled, and I continued to beam, memorizing his arrival date, November 10th. That was two weeks from now. I couldn't contain my excitement as I looked up to Gale, who was now smiling almost as brightly as I was. "And, I thought-" Gale began, catching my attention as I waited for him to continue, "-that maybe, we could have a sort of...coming home get-together for him and the others."

"That's a great idea." I nodded in agreement, folding the paper carefully before placing it into my pants pocket. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Well, I figured we could have a ball, invite all of the nobles and royals from other kingdoms to celebrate. People always love a good celebration, even when they don't know what it's about. The others won't know our new companions are different, or that they have abilities. They'll only learn that after the ball has taken place. That way, they'll realize how truly alike they all are," Gale explained. At his words, I paused, taking in what he'd said before frowning slightly.

"A....ball?" I asked, furrowing my brows in slight confusion. "But none of us have ever been to a ball. They won't know how to act, how to dance, what to wear."

"No worries," Gale brushed aside my concern with the wave of his hand. "I'll have outfits tailored for them, and Velut can teach them some phrases and rules of a ball on the way to the palace. They won't have to dance, not unless they want to. The nobles and royals will be taking up most of the dancefloor, anyway. They love to flaunt their riches and expensive outfits."

I stood silent for a moment, reciting Gale's words in my head before finally coming to a conclusion. "Alright," I agreed, my tone tainted with uncertainty although Gale seemed to ignore it.

"I'll get a dress tailored for you, also." He gave me a lopsided grin, his chocolate eyes gleaming with sincerity under the faded light that the cellar provided.

He really wanted this ball, I could tell by the way he spoke of it. It was a distraction for him, something to keep him from worrying about his duties and the stacks upon stacks of paper he had in his study. I couldn't say no to this, especially if it would help ease Gale's anxious mind.

"That sounds lovely, thank you." I smiled sweetly, watching as Gale returned the gesture before turning away from me, heading out the door and leaving me to my training. Once he'd vanished, my smile faltered, replaced with stress. I turned to Lullaby, who let out a low growl. She was laughing at me.

"Rude." I huffed before facing the door once more, worry continuing to filter through my body.

What had I just gotten myself into?