Gregory looked at the cloth-wrapped book on the table in his room and smiled. I’m glad it made it last night. I thought for sure I was going to have to ask Steva if he could run an errand… A long wait, but after today—
There was a knock on the door, and Gregory went to open it, leaving his thought unfinished. He smiled when he saw Yukiko waiting for him. “Good morning, Yuki.”
“Good morning, Greg. Might I come in?”
Gregory almost stepped aside when he remembered the book on the table. It was covered, but he worried that Yukiko might figure out what it was. “Uh…”
Seeing his hesitance, she stepped back. “We can go to my room, instead?”
“That’d be good,” Gregory said, leaving his room.
Yukiko’s eyes twinkled as she took his hand and stepped to her door. “You must have something special inside your room.” Gregory’s eyes shot open and Yukiko giggled softly. “Sorry, dear one. You’re easy to read at times.”
Gregory started to panic that she knew what his gift was. “Yuki, if it’s—!”
“Greg? Are you okay?” Yukiko asked, concerned after seeing his face.
Gregory was still trying to find the words when she helped him into her room and shut the door. The moment it closed, she was in his arms, and he started to relax. “It’s the gift. If it’s not what you wanted—”
“Gift?” Yukiko murmured, trying to understand. “Greg, what’re you so worried about? How can I dislike any gift from you?”
Looking into her eyes and seeing only love, concern, and honesty, Gregory felt like an idiot. “Oh… I’m sorry. Now I feel kind of stupid for worrying.”
“No, dear one. I worry about my gift to you, too,” Yukiko said softly. “It’s because we love each other so deeply that we feel this way. Mother said it was the same for her, when I asked.”
A pang of loss made his heart clench at her words.
Feeling him tense, Yukiko kissed his cheek. “My gift will be early… I hope that’s okay. It should be here after we train.”
Gregory was able to push the emotional turmoil aside. “I’ll love it.”
“I hope so, but like you, I worry, dear one.”
Gregory lowered his lips to hers and gave her a soft kiss, filled with his love. Yukiko returned it, softly, gently, not wanting anything more than to share the moment with him.
They broke after some time, and Yukiko’s cheeks were flushed. “Tomorrow… just need to wait…”
Gregory rested his forehead against hers. “I know.”
“Greg… win with everything you have in you. Push as hard as you can to win against Jenn.”
“I will. I would even if it was you, Yuki. We grow best when we can push with everything we have. We’ve both said we want Jenn beside us on this journey, so we need to push her as hard as we do each other.”
Yukiko’s eyes held hope, and she started to speak when there was a knock on her door. Snapping her jaw shut, she took a deep breath and stepped out of his arms. She cleared her throat and opened the door a second later. “Jenn, are you ready?”
Jenn’s gaze flickered from one to the other and back. “If you need another minute, I can go dow—”
“No, it’s fine. We were just about to go, too,” Yukiko said, cutting her off gently.
“Are you two okay?” Jenn asked.
“Nervous,” Gregory said.
Jenn grinned. “You should be. I plan to win today.”
Yukiko giggled. “Would you care to wager on that, Jenn?”
Jenn became serious and met Yukiko’s eyes. “My wish, if I win.”
Yukiko bowed her head. “I’ll do my best. If you lose, though?”
Turning away, Jenn was lost in thought as she tried to find a good balance.
“Yuki, is this re—?” Gregory started to ask.
Yukiko placed a hand on his, cutting his sentence off. She didn’t say anything, just watching and waiting for Jenn.
Jenn turned back, looking downcast. “There’s nothing of equal balance… Even my leaving the clan and never speaking to you both again wouldn’t balance it.”
“I would never ask for that,” Yukiko said softly. “I have no intention of losing my best friend over a bet.”
Jenn swallowed, her eyes shimmering. “Yuki…”
“If you lose, you’ll have to wait a whole year before you can ask again, and you’ll not argue if another gets ahead of you.”
Jenn’s nostrils flared and her eyes stopped shimmering with unshed tears. Instead, they started to spark with aether. “I won’t lose!” Her words were soft, but forceful, as she stared at Yukiko.
“Good. You need to hold to that determination if you ever want your wish to come true. We grow best by pushing each other. Gregory will do his best to make you lose, and you need to do the same. No hesitation, no holding back.”
Jenn’s nod was sharp and crisp. “Understood.”
“Uh, Jenn? Yuki? You’re both scaring me a little.”
Both women turned toward him, and Gregory felt his foresight trigger. A throaty laugh filled his head and the vision didn’t solidify for him. His confusion must have shown on his face, because Yukiko and Jenn were looking at him with concern when he was able to see clearly again.
“Greg?” they asked together. Once again, the vision started to appear before slamming shut as Darkness laughed.
He held up a hand as he got his bearings. “Darkness stopped me from seeing something.”
“Darkness?” Jenn asked.
Yukiko exhaled softly. “Remember when I said there are things that have to wait for later, Jenn? This is one of them.”
Gregory couldn’t believe he slipped up that badly. “Yeah… That would take some explaining.”
Jenn wasn’t sure who she should be trying to press for answers. “A secret?”
“One worth more than I can even estimate,” Yukiko said.
Jenn inhaled sharply. “Yuki…”
“Yes. I mean it, Jenn. Can you wait until after the wedding? Please?”
Jenn looked at Gregory, who looked abashed. “Greg, is it okay for me to know?”
“We haven’t even told her parents,” Gregory muttered, “it’s that important. If Yuki says you should know…”
“After the wedding, if things go the way I think they will,” Yukiko said. “It does mean Jenn needs to win, though.”
“I will win,” Jenn said softly, but with the full force of her will.
“Earn it,” Yukiko said in challenge. “I will never accept less.”
Gregory was totally off balance. They appeared to have gone back to the earlier conversation, and he didn’t see how they were connected. “Uh—”
“Breakfast will be ready shortly,” Dia said, coming down the stairs. “If you three are going to keep your routine, you really should be going.”
They all turned to look at Dia, who paused on the landing.
“Hallways are not the best places for conversations,” Dia admonished them lightly. “Now, shall we?”
“Yes, Dia,” they said.
~*~*~
Breakfast was quieter than normal, as they didn’t banter like they usually would.
Velma was watching them all with a bit of concern, worried for them. As they rose to leave, she spoke up, “Good luck. I can’t cheer for one of you over the other, but I hope you don’t have bad feelings when it’s finished.”
All of them turned to her, touched by her concern for their friendship. Gregory was the one who replied first, “Velma, it’ll be fine. We knew that this was going to happen, and that I would be facing one of them. We won’t have hard feelings when the match ends.”
“He’s right,” Jenn said. “Even if he beats me again, I’ll know that I gave it everything I had, and he was just better than me. It’ll push me to strive for more. If I win, Greg will be the one striving even harder.”
“Okay. I was worried,” Velma said, bowing her head to them as she rubbed at one of her ears. “None of us can think of the clan without you three now.”
“None of us are leaving the clan,” Yukiko said. “We might grow closer, but we won’t grow apart.”
Velma’s relief would’ve been comical if not for her obvious worry before. “Thank you. We’ll be cheering for you both.”
~*~*~
“Novices, good morning. Today might see a repeat of a champion for the novice year. It doesn’t happen often at all,” Rafiq greeted them.
“It’ll be a tough fight,” Gregory said. “I’ll be doing my best.”
“As will I,” Jenn added.
“Your books are waiting for you,” Rafiq said, “along with your friends. They came in even earlier than normal. I think they couldn’t sleep.”
Yukiko giggled. “Yes, they’ve been even more excited than we have. Well, for the tournament, at least.”
Rafiq’s laughter boomed for a second before he cut it off and coughed. “I’m sorry for that, Chief.”
Sarinia snorted from above them. “Yes, I would think so. Luckily, there’s no one else here for you to disrupt with such rudeness.” Turning her gaze to the novices, she nodded. “I wish you and Bean a good fight, and for you and Warlin to have a happy and long marriage.”
“Thank you,” they said, bowing to her.
“I’ll be watching your fight with interest. That’s the most I can do for either of the events I mentioned. I was touched to hear you would have liked Rafiq or the others to attend your betrothal dinner. Not many even think about us for moments like that, but there are rules that must be followed. We did hear about it, though, and it sounded wonderful.”
“Thank you, Chief Archivist,” Yukiko bowed with a large smile.
“Your friends are waiting, so go. Learn, grow, and thrive.”
They did as she bade them, going off to see their waiting friends.
~*~*~
“You lost, Yuki. What happened?” Daciana asked without preamble as they approached.
“Jenn beat me,” Yukiko said. “I thought my plan would be enough, but she proved me wrong.”
“Almost had me. If I hadn’t emptied out my storage earring, I wouldn’t have had enough aether to win,” Jenn said.
“I had to empty mine to keep you in place for as long as I did,” Yukiko replied, recalling a conversation they’d had the night before.
“How did you break free? It looked like she had you,” Nessa asked.
“I surged aether through my entire body and forced my way free,” Jenn said. “Thankfully, my body path helped the channels be strong enough to endure it, or I would have torn ligaments and tendons.”
“We’re working on the body path,” Daciana said.
“But neither of you is a physical enhancement magi like I am,” Jenn cautioned her. “If you tried it, it wouldn’t work the same. Working toward your strengths is best.”
“But you should also find ways to shore up your weaknesses,” Yukiko added. “I’m not physically imposing, but in an even fight, I’ve trained to hold my own.”
“And she does,” Gregory chuckled. “Can beat me or Jenn equally, if it’s a fair fight.”
“My strength is going to be speed,” Nessa said. “Wind magi can all move swiftly.”
“You can also deflect attacks,” Yukiko said. “Did you see the fights where that happened?”
“Yes,” Nessa nodded. “I’ll have to gain more aether to be able to do that reliably.”
“Earth,” Daciana grumbled. “Dirt clods and earth spikes.”
“That’s what seems to be most prevalent for those magi, but that doesn’t mean it’s all they can do,” Gregory said.
“I’ve asked about books on my magic, but they only gave me the most basic ones,” Daciana complained.
“Did you ask for books about well-known or powerful earth magi?” Yukiko asked.
“No… why?” Daciana responded.
“One of them might tell about different ways they used their magic.”
Daciana’s jaw dropped a little, and everyone could see the wheels turning in her head.
Gregory chuckled. “Let’s get started. We have to learn if we want to grow and thrive.”
Everyone pulled out papers and started in on Magi Squares. None of them noticed the eyes watching them from the shadows, or the toothy smile that accompanied them.
