"And how exactly did you get this bad with boosted healing and physicality?" Teresa fumed, poking irritably at the bullet wound in Melita's side.
"I never really paid attention to my fighting classes." Melita said with a wince, wishing the other was just a little gentler. Finally looking away from the soiled bandages on the floor, she tried to shoot Teresa a lopsided grin anyway. "You should have seen the other guy."
"You mean Mrs Arias?" Aquila asked over the crackling of the fire, and Melita shot her a sour look. Not that that had ever stopped the other before. "If she wanted to kill you, she would have. The smart thing to do would have been to surrender the moment it was obvious she didn't want to kill you."
"I managed to deal some damage." Melita groused, though she knew she was outnumbered. "You never know when you might win."
"Or lose!" Teresa grabbed both sides of Melita's face, staring determinedly into them. "You could have died, you know?"
The feelings from before rose once more, and Melita paused, unsure of how to express or deal with them. Still, they lit her alight, and she wanted to feel it forever.
If she had to be a bumbling fool to be able to experience such things, then a fool was what she would be.
Oh. This is what I was searching for all this time. The realisation was a strange one, and Melita thought about it for a second, unsure of what exactly she wanted to do about it.
However, it seemed like she didn't have to respond immediately.
“All of that before... You were protecting her?” Meino's voice suddenly emerged from the trees behind them, making all three of them jolt. How had she found them that fast?
Aquila let out a curse, but Melita stretched her hand out before her, stopping her from attacking before she really knew why. “Yeah.”
“I never imagined you to care for another so deeply as to sacrifice yourself.” Meino smiled almost fondly. “You have grown.”
Had she? No, it was just that before, she had never cared about anything, not even herself. She’d reached out for various things, not knowing that what she’d really been looking for was warmth and company. “I’m just the same as ever. I wasn’t about to let others take something I wanted, even if I had to die for it.”
Meino’s eyes widened for a second, before she let out a bark of a laugh. “I see. In that case, I will hope that I won't have to face you for something you want again.”
With those words, Meino turned, walking into the woods.
Everyone else watched in silence, stunned.
“Did she just accept your point?” Aquila asked hesitantly.
“It appears so.” All that time trying to impress her, and the one thing that did was no longer caring about her opinion. That made sense, in a strange, ironic way. Placing a hand on her forehead, Melita couldn't help but laugh. She only hoped that Meino had a good excuse, but knowing her, there was no situation she didn’t plan for. Aquila smiled as well, shaking her head knowingly, before she rolled her eyes and strolled away.
As Melita looked up, searching for the cause, she found it in Teresa's wide eyes.
"You were protecting me?"
Everything in her panicked, reaching for her usual deflections of humour, vague answers, or even dismissive silence. But Teresa had managed to find her long lost friend, bonded to the insignia and broke her out of her dead end situation. She deserved better than that.
Melita wanted to give her better than that. "Yes."
Though Teresa had pushed hard, it was clear that she hadn't expected a real answer. Her eyes widening, she looked away for a moment, a dusting of rose powdering her cheeks. Cute.
Clearing her throat, Teresa frowned, continuing as if she wasn't blushing a mile a minute. "We are going to gather the remnants of the other clans. None of us can face this alone, and they should know that themselves."
After they just broke her out? Melita felt her lips twitching, going into a hesitant smile. Was this why Aquila had left? So Melita had to deal with this? Even if they wanted to start an entire war, it would be best to lay low at least for now. "Teresa, I-"
"Since I hold the boar insignia, they'd be forced to at least give me the time of day. If we manage to convince the raccoons or any of the birds, we can then make use of their information network to get the others." Teresa continued, ignoring her protests. An ambitious plan indeed, and it made sense, but...
Hold on. It made sense? Melita waited for Teresa to run out of air before speaking. "Aquila agreed to this plan?"
"She helped come up with it." That's what it had sounded like, but... Teresa stepped forward, grabbing Melita's hands and placing them over her chest. "The only unknown is if you're coming."
Melita tried to swallow, but her mouth suddenly felt awfully dry. She didn't want to die, and this felt like a whole lot more danger than she had signed up for. "I'm injured-"
"That's never stopped you before." Teresa pointed out in that brusque, direct way of hers, her frustration coming through.
Melita had lived her life acquiescing to the whims of others, not bothering to struggle for supremacy, content to live on the outskirts and do her own thing. The one time she'd tried to change the course of things, Leon had died. "Look, that's just not something I do, okay?"
"I know. You always reach out, but then flinch back when someone tries to to grab it. You always take yourself out of any conflict, any contest as soon as it has a hint of stirring whispers, content to be swept out the way or viewed as a lazy good for nothing." Teresa brought her face closer, close enough that Melita could feel the warmth of her breath skating along her jaw and neck. She fought a shiver.
"But I've followed your path. I've travelled with you and trusted you, and it ended in you what? Giving me the insignia and trying to sacrifice yourself? You always have this sadness about you. You break yourself again and again saying that you don't care. But everyone has feelings and I'm tired of watching you break yourself over and over again to put yourself out of the way."
Now that they were this close, Melita could feel Teresa's hands shaking. Was she nervous? Teresa paused, taking a breath, before plunging on. "I love you. I want to fight this war, with you, but I can't do that and worry about you leaving every step of the way."
Had she been that transparent? Aquila's words rang in her head. Are you so lazy that you'd make your apprentice become the guide instead? How had she been so blind?
Teresa looked away then, her words starting to blend together as her blush only grew deeper. "I can't say that this path is without struggle, and maybe your path is the easier one, but-"
Raising one of their joined hands to place a finger on Teresa's lips, Melita's own formed a grin heavy with so many emotions that they trembled with the weight. "I love you too. I'll go with you."
Teresa blinked, obviously having been stopped in the middle of what was probably a very long speech. "Really?"
Melita smiled, nodding, before looking back towards Aquila. The other girl sat back by the fireplace, and upon looking at the two of them, gave her a smug look.
She hadn't been sitting idle, either. Dewdrops of light hung like diamonds upon the leaves around them, and birds of light frolicked in the night air, the gentle glow turning everything an ethereal shade of white. Teresa stared with open wonder, wonderment turning her angry features into ones of a child.
Aquila the Beautiful, Light Shaper.
She was indeed deserving of her title.
Which reminded Melita. "Usually one would have to graduate, but I think you've done more than enough to deserve your title at this point."
At her words, Teresa looked at her with astonishment, before jerkily dropping to a knee and bowing her head. "Now?"
"Close your eyes." Taking a moment to just stand and take in their surroundings, Melita placed both her palms upon Teresa's shoulders. She closed her eyes, thinking of the way Teresa's eyebrows were always furrowed, an intense fire burning deep within her actions and words.
Would you like to come with me to a more pathetic eternity?
Larissa’s errant choice had let her survive, but her Teresa had burned through everything and let her live. She had been more than a mere apprentice a long time ago. Melita had just failed to realise it.
“About time.” Melita could hear the cryptic smile in Aquila's voice.
Magic swirled within them, and in that moment, she could feel Teresa's presence next to her, within her, and they were connected. Teresa’s strength and magic seemed to swell and grow, stabilizing in a spell that neither of them would ever be able to take back. They were equal.
“Teresa.” Melita said, feeling the happiness and certainty that filled her body even as they recklessly drove a path into the uncertain future, straight out of the mire she’d been in alone. “You are Teresa the Wrathful, Hardest Armour.”
And I will never leave you again.
Comments (0)
See all