“When I feel really desperate about something, sometimes I feel Mother nudge me in ways that I can’t describe. Don’t mistake me for Cestra, please don’t!” This time she was the one frantically shaking her hands. “I don’t need another worshipper kissing my feet. Instead think of it like Mother helping guide my magic at opportune times.” She did a little jump, her eyes sparkling in delight. She was hiding something, even while trying her best to dumb it down for me.
“So you wanted to protect me?” I tried to wring the truth from her, “and Cestra helped you out?”
She paused for a moment, before giving a happy little nod.
“That…if you were anyone else I would call you for being a liar…but it explains a lot of things” I stared into the fire. Does that mean back then, when I stared into those dead eyes, I was staring at Cestra? Did that mean I’m literally being protected by a god? That was a thrilling thought, for sure.
“Hehe! I’m so happy you believe me! Do…Does that make you feel better? Can we be friends again?” She leaned into my personal space once more as I gently pushed her away from me. She was like an overeager child.
“I feel…okay now.” I returned a grin. I still didn’t know how I felt about it, but I wasn’t scared anymore. “I’m guessing the glare was from your mom telling me to stop being stupid and getting my arm stabbed.” I snickered, thinking of Cestra like an annoyed mom babysitting Aria and I while she glared at me, dead serious.
“No, Mother does not like you being reckless. She might do something dangerous.”
Her tone was devoid of her usual chipper tones and it sent goosebumps down my spine. Before I could respond, she looked away, a hurt frown forming across her lips. “I don’t like it either.”
It was hard not to comfort her when she was like this. “Come here. I’ll play with your hair and stuff. Like the adorable girl you pretend to be.”
She giggled, before leaping into my lap.
“Your hair is so straight. Is it always like this?” I wondered out loud as my hands ruffled her head. Her hair would always flow back into perfectly straight locks, organizing themselves seamlessly.
She nodded as I started to braid it, or tried to. Every time I tried to tie it into a knot it seemed to suddenly become slippery, as if resisting my attempts to change its form.
“I don’t think you can braid my hair anymore, but feel free to try! Before my Pact Mage powers came out, they used to be all wavy and not white. Was a big shock to my folks!”
Her hair was indeed impossible to braid, in no small part because I suspected it was alive.
“What about your parents?” I wanted to ask more about her family, but I felt her entire body stiffen like a board.
“Pass…” she said weakly before shaking her head. “Mmm, sorry sorry! I’ll try and talk a little more about it. It’s just sad, that’s all.” I gave her an approving rub on the head as she sunk into my coat, making cute little noises all the while.
She reminded me so much of a cat. A cat who can channel the powers of god.
“Us Pact Mages have responsibilities beyond our family, and my family didn’t like that.” Aria sulked a little before bouncing back, trying to lift the tone. “D-Don’t feel bad for me! It worked out pretty well for me…else I’d probably be married off to some noble that I didn’t love in the south.” I didn’t need to see her face to know something hurt her in the past. She normally had such a beautiful straight posture, but now she was slumped over as I played with her hair.
“You like a lot of touches. Head pats. Stuff like that.” I gave her a playful pinch on the neck to prove a point. She yelped before turning around, giving me a pouty frown. She was playing around too.
“Mmm…it’s like a cat who likes belly rubs. The cat does not let just anyone give her belly rubs, but she loves belly rubs from friends.”
I was holding back tears at her description, but also suppressing a snicker. She knew she was a cat! That was adorable.
She turned around, wondering why I wasn’t playing her hair anymore. Luckily I had stopped snickering by then.
“So friends then?” I wondered out loud as she gave a confident “Mhm!”
“Well, you’re my only friend…so you have to make double duty!” she chirped as I raised a doubtful eyebrow.
“I’m your only friend? I think you have more friends than just me,” I asserted. She was a Pact Mage. She was beautiful. She was the kind of girl every guy would love to take care of and adore.
“They’re not friends. They’re allies, worshippers, admirers, or zealots.” She sighed as my hands moved down to her shoulders, hopefully comforting her.
“Okay, what makes you different from all those people then?” I pointed out, but she didn’t pause to think this time. She already knew.
“I’m hunted, adored, and worshipped because I’m a Pact Mage, because there’s something to gain. I don’t enjoy spending time with them, but I enjoy spending time with you.” I couldn’t see her face, but I could imagine a soft, bubbly smile. “Also, I imagine it’s the same for you as well. You’d spend time with me, whether I was a Pact Mage or not.”
“To be fair, I did fall for your eyes first and that’s…” I thought out loud before I realized what I was saying. We both froze mid-motion.
She slowly turned around, her cheeks entirely red as she stared up at me.
“I didn’t mean it like that! I didn’t fall for your eyes, no, I mean your eyes are really pretty, no…gah!” I was waving my arms, frantically trying to explain my feelings in a way that didn’t sound like I wasn’t falling in love with her eyes or insulting her. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working!
Then I felt a soft bonk on top of my head. Ow.
“Come on you two. Weapon practice,” Caen growled as I rubbed my head.
When he said you two, he just meant me. Aria was as lethal with a weapon as without, and besides, she had proven herself both surprisingly hard to teach due to her short height and her inability to correct her shots.
“All right, all right,” I said as Aria still looked up at me like a lost doe, still with flushed and embarrassed cheeks.
“I’m just wondering, but what does Cestra think of me?” I picked up the axe Caen handed me, thinking out loud as she fidgeted.
A soft smile slipped around her cheek as her fingers crossed. Finally, it came out as a barely audible whisper.
“She approves.”
I nodded. Approves, huh? I skipped through the snowbank to catch up to Caen. “Good, because your ‘mom’ is scary stuff…but thanks a bunch! Talk to you later.” I gave a parting wave as Aria pressed both hands onto her chest with a coy little smile.
“Bye, Charlotte.”
