"Recognize the difference in energies. I can try," I noted.
Professor Xin nodded. "It will be a little difficult and could take the rest of the semester to see some progress, but that's the best bet. As you practice more and more, it'll become second nature just like your regular magic."
"All right. I'll give it a try." I nodded in determination.
"DAICHI, NYA!"
We all flinched, glancing to our left to see a small figure that looked like Mitten.
"What is she doing here?" Professor Xin looked annoyed.
"Aww. Is that a picnic basket?" Ryuu narrowed his eyes to try and get a better look.
"I smell tuna sandwiches," Dimitri announced.
"And egg ones, too," Wolfgang added.
Professor Xin let out another sigh but began walking to meet Mitten halfway. He tucked his wings against his body, their angelic grace fading away as they disappeared.
I listened in closely like the rest of the group.
"Mitten. What are you doing here?"
"I brought lunch," she sweetly declared.
I noticed she was wearing a light blue wool dress with white knee socks and dark blue fuzzy boots. Her petticoat was white with little blue fuzzy balls that dangled from white strings.
He just stared at her. "We weren't staying that long."
"Yes, but you still need lunch and it’s way into the afternoon. Did you know in winter shifters get hungrier because their bodies need more calories to keep warm?"
Her bright eyes were enough to make him give up. "I didn't know. Are we having a picnic?"
"If you like? I brought enough food for everyone, Nya."
"You're too nice," Professor Xin grumbled. "Fine. I'll help you set up."
Mitten squealed, wrapping her free arm around his. "I know the perfect spot. Right there."
I looked at the others, who had small smiles on their faces.
"Hey, Yuriel. Why doesn't your bro just hook up with her?" Wolfgang asked.
"Clearly he likes her. Look how red his face is," Dimitri acknowledged.
"I don't know. My brother's stupid." Yuriel shrugged. "They went to school together,"
"They did?!" the rest of us exclaimed.
"Yeah. I think they did date, but something happened." Yuriel eyed his brother and Mitten as they walked over to a dry spot near the water that wasn't covered by snow.
"I think they had a mission and she got really hurt and lost her memory."
"What?" I gasped, my excitement for them dropping like a sinking boat.
The others also looked hurt by his revelation. "She lost her memories of him and he decided they shouldn't date anymore?" Ryuu muttered.
"Not necessarily. I don't know the details, but I just think my brother wants her to have a choice? Sometimes I think he blames himself for her getting injured. They were a team of five. Only my brother, Mitten, and Mr. London made it through. The mission was something really serious. I'm talking internationally ranked. What they did saved millions of shifters, mages, and humans, but there were sacrifices. They gave my brother the option to continue or do what he wanted most, which was teaching. Mr. London also wanted to teach, thus the reason why he, too, is a professor. Mitten is really good at healing and curing any type of poison. The Dean decided it would be good to have her as a nurse. Only took her six months to become the head nurse."
Yuriel looked at his brother and sighed. "My brother is like me. We struggle to be open and are hard to approach unless you know us. He still loves her. Their pictures are in his office and at home in his room. He carries a picture of them together in his wallet as well. I think Mitten loves him, even if she can't remember their past, but it's up to my brother to give the relationship another chance."
"That's really depressing," Dimitri whispered.
I nodded. "Proves that being a spy isn't a game. Anything can happen."
"Mewr!"
We all blinked and looked down to see Star sitting in the middle of our circle. She stretched and ran over to Wolfgang, who knelt down and picked her up.
"Hey, Star."
"Mewr." She looked at his wrist, and without a second thought, scratched it with her sharp claws. We all gawked at the little uni-kitten. Wolfgang was clearly having a slow reaction because he just stared at his wrist that immediately began to bleed.
"And...I'm going to die," Wolfgang concluded calmly.
"Star! Why did you do that?" I scolded. The uni-kitten jumped out of his hand and raced away from us toward Professor Xin and Mitten.
"Traitor!" I shouted out to her. "My familiar's a runaway murderer!"
"I'm still alive," Wolfgang calmly pointed out.
"After the culprit!" Dimitri declared, running after Star.
"Um...I guess I'll go help. Don't die on me, Wolfgang. You haven't paid me back for buying you lunch on the last day of classes before Christmas break," Ryuu acknowledged.
"Really?!" Wolfgang dramatically put his other hand against his chest while watching Ryuu casually walk away. "What kind of brother are you?"
"The kind you still owe money to," he replied, not even looking back.
Yuriel and I exchanged looks and then glanced back down to Wolfgang's wound that was dripping blood on the ground beneath us.
"Guess this is a good time for that healing magic," Yuriel suggested.
"How are you so calm?" I asked, looking back at the wound. "And there's so much blood already. What if I can't heal it?" I was already panicking.
I hated blood. Sure, I could handle my period, but we had magic to help us coast through the week without crazy cramps or spending tons of money on tampons. Even safe sex was possible with a mental thought of protection.
This would have been a piece of cake with my actual magic, but I had no clue what angel energy felt like.
Yuriel was observing me while I tried to figure out what to do. He moved around so he was standing behind me again, and he pressed his body against me.
"Relax for a second, Silver," he comforted.
"But—"
"Relax," he repeated, but his hands ran down my arms while his voice held power over me. My body immediately calmed down.
"You can't heal when you're not calm. Now take a few deep breaths," he whispered.
I bit my lip, but took a deep inhale through my nose, and released my lip to let the air out. In the back of my mind, I worried Wolfgang would pass out or something, but he stood still, watching Ryuu and Dimitri chase after Star, who was running in circles.
"Now focus deep inside you. Find your own magic first. Then try to find another source of energy that doesn't feel normal," Yuriel coached.
I nodded and closed my eyes, focusing on following his instruction. Lifting my hands up to where I knew Wolfgang's injured wrist was, I dove deeper within myself.
Finding my own magic was easy. In a second my magic gathered at my attention, centering within my chest in a big ball of pink coursing energy.
It was now time for me to find the foreign magic. It took a lot longer for me to find hints of gold and amber energy. It was a weird mix, but I focused on the golden energy that was greater in mass and strength.
Envisioning it as a tiny ball, I concentrated with all my might for the ball of energy to travel to my fingertips. It was so small that I struggled to keep it there, for my own magic wanted to take its place.
It was as though the two energies were employees and my magic was the manager who wanted to get the work over and done, whereas the foreign magic was like a new employee who was unsure what to do.
"A little more, Silver," Yuriel encouraged.
I could feel the beads of sweat forming along my forehead as I strained to make the bits of energy manifest. My hands grew warm, and I knew I'd done something, but I tried to push a little more.
"What a pretty light," Wolfgang complimented.
When I couldn't do it anymore, I stopped and opened my eyes. I caught the last glimpse of golden white light before it vanished completely.
I frowned when I saw there was still a tiny gash on Wolfgang's wrist. "It didn't work," I grumbled, needing to catch my breath.
Wolfgang shook his head. "It did. The cut was way bigger."
"You healed about half of it," Yuriel announced. "Really good for the first time."
"That was exhausting. Now I'm hungry," I grumbled.
"Mewr!" Star was still running around, being chased by Dimitri and Ryuu, who looked tired.
"How the hell does this cat have so much energy?" Ryuu huffed.
"I give up,” Dimitri groaned. "Why are we even trying to catch her? I swear she did that on purpose."
"Let's go eat," Wolfgang suggested.
"But your..." I trailed off, realizing his cut was now completely healed. "How?"
“Wolf shifters heal fast. Only took longer because I was delaying the healing process to give you a chance to try out your angel skills." He winked and slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me into a fierce kiss.
I mumbled against his lips, but it was completely incoherent as he deepened the kiss.
"I feel like a third wheel." Yuriel yawned.
Wolfgang released me and chuckled. "Thanks for healing me, Silver. If you show that skill during the exam, we'll be set."
"And how would that work out?" I questioned.
"I'll just fall in the water and you can rescue me and give me CPR. We'll make it dramatic," Wolfgang teased.
"That sounds like another way just to kiss her," Yuriel pointed out.
"Yes, but it would be heroic." Wolfgang's playful grin made me shake my head.
"Made me worry for nothing."
"I did my contribution to training today. Also, it was your familiar who attacked the innocent wolf shifter," Wolfgang noted. "Let me go wash the blood off. Then we can eat! I'm starving."
"I feel played," I mumbled to myself, watching Wolfgang walk over to the others, who were catching their breath while Star ran around them.
Yuriel smiled. "Healing is tricky. You have to settle into a relaxed mindset, even if the world is crumbling around you."
I turned to face him. "Isn't it hard?"
"It is," he confessed, taking a step forward and sliding his arms around my waist. He stared down at my body, his navy blue eyes drifting back up to meet mine.
"You really are hot in a bikini."
"Thank you," I replied. "I never expected to wear one during winter, though."
"True. You're handling it well, though." His black wings wrapped around me, pressing me against his body. I hooked my arms around his neck, keeping our eye contact.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You've looked troubled since the day I passed out," I whispered. "I've wanted to ask you about it, but the week flew by until now."
He was quiet, but he didn't divert his gaze from mine. "Sorry," he whispered.
"For what?"
"We got into an argument. I shouldn't have yelled at you."
"You were just worried about me. I snapped at all of you and sent you and your brother flying back by accident. I should be apologizing."
"It's because I pushed you. If I could simply heal you..."
"Yuriel," I whispered, leaning up to kiss him lightly on the lips. "You can heal, but boosts are more complicated. It's neither of our faults that our energies aren't compatible exchange-wise, and it’s definitely not your fault I got ill. I pushed myself and was ignoring the symptoms. That isn’t something you caused."
I let my fingers run through his hair as I continued. "Everything worked itself out. If I hadn't fallen ill, we wouldn't have realized the problem early on. It could have been a lot worse and brought us down during the actual exam. This all worked out in our favor, and I'm in no way angry with you or the others. Please don't keep beating yourself up about this."
His tense shoulders began to relax, and he claimed my lips in a slow, sensual kiss. "I...just don't want to lose you."
"You won't lose me, Yuriel. Just like I won't lose you. The four of you are stuck with me. No one is allowed to die or fail."
"That sounds rather harsh."
"But you love a challenge like me," I leaned back and winked.
"True." His small smile reflected how relieved he must have felt.
"Lover birds! Let's eat!" Dimitri called out.
"I'm sitting next to Silver!" Wolfgang declared.
"Fuck off! I'm sitting with her. You get to sleep in her bed tonight," Ryuu noted.
"Yeah, but Dimitri's hellhound ass is going to kick me off the bed like last week!" Wolfgang argued.
"I can't be brought into such accusations when I wasn't mentally there," Dimitri shrugged.
"That's bullshit!" Ryuu argued. "Call the other you!"
"You wanna get your ass kicked before or after lunch?" Dimitri tested.
"Can we do this rival fighting after? I'm starving," Wolfgang whined. "I'm a healing patient. I need food."
"No one cares about you," Ryuu and Dimitri said together.
"My feelings are hurt," Wolfgang said dramatically. "Star! Scratch them."
"Mewr?" Star looked at Ryuu and Dimitri, who froze.
"Nope!" Ryuu began to run.
"I'm not being murdered by the uni-kitten. They'll make it a foolish case in court," Dimitri yelled. Star began to chase them around while Wolfgang laughed.
"Payback!"
"Why do I feel like a babysitter?" Professor Xin sighed.
"Daichi. Here. Have this bento box I made," Mitten encouraged.
"S-sure. Thanks,” he stuttered back.
I looked at Yuriel and the two of us laughed. "Ten more weeks before our written exam. Then comes our first physical exam," I whispered.
"We'll be ready. It'll be a piece of cake."
I really hope so.
33
I Belong To No One
~ ELEVEN WEEKS LATER~
* * *
Final Exam Day -Exam 999
* * *
"This is the information we need!" I quietly declared, reviewing the documents quickly.
I was actually memorizing everything, just in case the information suddenly disappeared or fell under some type of risk of being destroyed.
We were in the middle of our final exam, our team against another with the same objective: obtain the information on the scroll documents and protect it until time runs out.
Sounded easy enough when we were first given the mission, but we didn't expect the magical scroll to be on one of the two deserted islands.
Islands full of traps in both physical and magical forms.
The good thing about magical scrolls was how easy they were to locate. You needed a high magic threshold to do it, but that's what gave our team the advantage because, well, me.
Last week was written exams, so I'd been careful to rest the entire time. We'd been training so hard the other nine weeks that Professor Xin advised everyone to take a week off before the final exam.
Some people took his advice while others didn't. We were smart enough to trust his judgment. Our decision to listen to him was now paying off because we were all energized and ready to speed through the forest for the scroll.
The downside of our test was that the opposing team included Callister, of all people. I wasn't sure how his power would help him in a situation where you needed to work as a team, but I also couldn't have cared less.
The priority was to get the magic scroll and survive until the time was up.
We all had our watches, but no time countdown showed up, even though we constantly checked. We'd know when the exam was over when our watches lit green — or that was what we had to assume, at least, because there was no other way to track the time.
I'd located the scroll and drawn a map in the sand. Ryuu had suggested we fly to the spot, but it could give us away and with how dark the clouds were with the chances of rain and what we expected would be thunder and lightning, we didn't want to risk it
Going
by foot would be the smarter, more cautious route. Dimitri and Wolfgang both shifted into their animal forms, while Yuriel and Ryuu focused on finding any physical traps along the route.
It was easy for me to spot the magical traps without losing the main location of the scroll. We must have walked for hours, but we arrived first and avoided encounters with the other team.
Now that we'd arrived at the scroll’s location and retrieved it, we all had to figure out what we'd do to survive the approaching storm. Wolfgang and Dimitri switched back, the two of them casting a spell to return their combat outfits.
"What's the plan, Silver?" Dimitri asked.
"We need to think of a shelter fast. It's about to rain," Wolfgang warned, sniffing the moist air. "Strong storm."
"And the thunder is going to be bad," Dimitri added, also sniffing the air. "I think we should head to the other island. There's better coverage. We'll get hit really hard on this side."
"Can't we create a barrier to shield us?" Yuriel suggested while I finished reading the last parts of the scroll, keeping a duplicate copy in my mind.
"We don't know how long we'll be stuck here," Ryuu replied. "It's too risky. Even if you and Silver maintained the barrier, if we're stuck here for a day or two, you'll both be drained, and we don't have enough magic to create a long-term effect either."
"Then our best bet is the other island," I mumbled, but something was bothering me.
"You're hesitating," Yuriel pointed out.
"I don't know if we can move the scroll to the other island," I admitted. "Magic scrolls integrate their roots into the area where they're placed. Think of it like a tree. We can walk around it, but its magic would be rooted in the ground. We don't know how long this scroll has been here, which means—"
"If we go to the next island, we may break its bond and render it useless," Wolfgang concluded.
"Which would mean we failed," Ryuu stated.
"Unless we get the other scroll," Dimitri muttered. "And at this point, either the other team has it or they fucked up and brought it here."
SSS: Year One (Supernatural Spy School Book 1) Page 39