Spiritual Entanglement

Soul of the fortunate...

Clover didn't think he was one of those people, now his thoughts started changing...

By no means was this fortune on his part. But because of his circumstances and existence...he had made fortune fall upon another. Truly the work of fate itself...

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Tight were his lips and tongue. The boy's heart beated abnormally, not by any state of fright, fear, or surprise...it was something unusual which caused this.

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Déjà vu maybe?

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No, he hasn't been in a situation like this before. But it was a feeling similar to that...a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling of purpose...it was like, for the split of a second, he understood why everything in his life happened to him up until this point.

This emotion was too much for him to handle, so he tried to make sense of it...piece by piece, starting from the first thing the woman said.

"You're name...Sarah. It's the same as my mom's."

"Really? What a coincidence."

'I can't believe it. I didn't even know I was assigned a maid for almost a month. And to top it off, it seems like I save her from the shame of leaving her home village just to go back without achieving anything. Although, it was all circumstantial so I shouldn't be given this much praise.'

"You know, I didn't really do anything. So if you had to thank something...thank the Threads of Fate."

Clover believed he messed up by saying that last sentence, why would he allow this tiny possibly of someone finding out his abilities?

Luckily Sarah took it figuratively...

"I know you weren't actively trying to help me but even so I..." Sarah gathered her thoughts carefully for the next thing she'd say. "...I wouldn't have gotten the chance to reach my goal if it hadn't been for you."

'Oh brother. She's just too kind.' Clover felt guilt surge through his core...a guilt he didn't deserve nor did he work for. 'I hope she doesn't feel obligated to repay me or something. I would feel bad for causing her to feel indebted to me.'

"I'm starting to think telling you my story was a bad Idea..." Sarah's eyes softened in dismay.

'Yes. It definitely was a bad idea.'

"...But if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't have known why you deserve my gratitude."

Sarah clearly wanted to repay Clover for something as simple as this—his existence.

The boy on the other hand, really didn't think it was worth this much...at most a 'thank you' would suffice. He wanted her to be free from the burden of meeting his expectations...if he had any expectations at all.

"Listen. I understand that me be being here benefits you greatly but...I honestly don't believe you should give me much credit. You saw an opportunity to make your dreams come true, and you took it. The only thing I did was trying not to die while still getting beat up over and over again. If anything I should be grateful to you for not letting my beatdowns be in vain."

There, Clover did it. Washing away someone's emotions wasn't easy, so rather than washing them away...he replaced it with something else. In this case, he replaced her gratitude with a sense of charity; her charity towards Clover's efforts.

Then, as he looked at Sarah to see how lightened she was...he realized he was wrong...

...it wasn't charity which stood in gratitude's place...it was...

...Self Doubt...

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Sarah, her eyes were glossy...more so than the time she thought she wasn't of much use to Clover. If back then she could easily hold back her tears, then now she had to bit her lips to distract herself from the pain inside her.

Clover opened his mouth, the more he looked the less he thought he could say. One word, just one word could either heal her, or break her.

'What's causing all this? Is it something I said?'

Of course, he knew what he said was the cause of this—just not which part caused it.

'What should I say?'

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This was something akin to a veridical paradox...

...It could go either two ways...

Say something wrong which would cause her to finally break down...

Or say the right thing and have her return to a more pleasant mood.

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Luckily though...there was a third option.

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"I'm sorry but, that's not true. All of your hard work and suffering to survive in this realm...it's all...indeed in vain." Sarah's pronunciations were mixed with shaky breaths and high pitched squeaks as her fingers gripped the frilly white fabric of her maid uniform.

"In vain?" The lad didn't understand. Why would any of what he had done until now...be in vain?

"It didn't matter. I tried so hard and did all I could, but in the end...it didn't matter. My lack of aptitude for magic had only left me able to barely cast simple spells. At most I could move a feather with my Spiritual Magic if I tried hard enough...but that's it." she relaxed her fingers to realize her regret. "So you see, that's the reason why I was unable to pass the entrance test, and the same reason this chance you've given me is all wasted on someone who is barely able to use magic."

In this instant, as Sarah raised his awareness towards her situation...Clover did something which made her forget the troubles of her life for a moment...

Something which caused her to wonder...

Something she didn't understand...

Something she didn't expect...

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He chuckled...

But not in a quick or short manner. It was like he was on the border of a giggle and laughing himself to death.

Sarah remained only in disarray for the time it took for her to feel mocked. Then as that feeling sunk in, the corners of her eyes released silent tears while the dam of her composure cracked and sprayed out the emotions it clogged up.

On Clover's end, the waters dripping down Sarah's chin cut his sense of humour in halves...

"I'm sorry." Clover said. "It's just...I also thought that without magic I would be unable to pass any tests given to me by this realm; academy wise...or not. But it turns out, even though I didn't know how to use magic...I was still able to pull through, regardless of whether or not I came out on top."

"You...didn't know how to use magic?"

"Not until I came to this realm." Clover reached to grab ahold of Sarah's hand. "What I'm trying to say is...there's magic in everything. Even simple things such as stories hold great power. So maybe one day, your story will be powerful enough to change something...or maybe, change someone."

It was like cringing his teeth to the edge, Clover knew exactly where he got those words from—the things he just said. 'I'm sounding too much like dad.'

However, there was something else going on which lurked under the nose of their cognition. A light which gradually brightened into existence the second he touched Sarah's hand...

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It came—not suddenly, only gradually. Like a simple inconsequential spark, a spark which caught flames...flames that were fueled by something unknown...something unobservable.

Clover was only human. He couldn't tell for sure if Sarah also was, but for now...he assumed.

And like all humans, something small will seem insignificant...allowing it to grow while catching everyone unawares.

The same with this light—this flame. Blue was it's colour...thus when it came too bright to ignore, Clover knew what it was...and what it meant.

'My Spiritual Magic.'

He had gotten too accustomed to the flame's appearances that he stopped questioning it's origin, a thing he started to accept rather than scrutinize.

Though this time, the flame did something unusual; much like the first time it showed itself it him.

Hovering within the grasp of Sarah and Clover's palms, the flame shared their touch before completely subsuming their hands. With this, the usual happened—Clover's hair and eyes iridized into the colour of the flame.

It was at this moment that it began to write in midair.

[Spiritual Entanglement]

[Dust, wind, gas and air. I call forth the spirits thereof. Gather together in unity and burst like the raging wind in a dreadful storm...[Spiritual Pulse].

'Why is this happening now?'

It appears his Spiritual Magic has a mind of its own. Though...maybe it might not have been some sort of spiritual will which caused this, but a trigger which both Sarah and Clover pulled; in one way or another.

"What is this?" he saw it again, the look of curiosity and wonder in Sarah's eyes when she said this.

Clover wished this wasn't happening. His magic has now been revealed to someone other than Scarlett. It currently was too late for regrets if he wanted to have any.

The gleam in Sarah's eyes pulled her mouth open, the next actions she would take were obvious...

"Dust, wind, gas and air. I call forth the spirits thereof. Gather together in unity and burst like the raging wind in a dreadful storm....[Spiritual Pulse]..."

Uttered by her mouth...Clover's disappointment caused him to not understand what exactly was happening.

"Wait! What are yo-...don't read that." he spoke too late.

Ensuing from her vocal incantation, the flames and it's words puffed out to blue dust while it's remnants got sucked up in the hands held by Clover and her.

Then...like the tickle of rotating winds, a sensation grew in their palms...

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One stood in fear of what it might be, the other wanted to know what it was...

Clover cringed, Sarah gasped...releasing the former's hand to take a peek inside...

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"Is this...one of your spells?" she asked. Really not requiring an answer.

'This stupid magic of mine. What's it up to this time?'

"It's Beautiful. I didn't know there was ever a spell like this."

Clover gave up, clearly he would be needed to explain things soon—only that he barely knew what was going on himself.

"Yes." he sighed. "That is one of the spells I own."

"It's my first time casting a spell this strong. I don't understand...how am I able to-...it doesn't make sense."

Her problem was that she couldn't cast spells strong enough to do much of anything. So the fact she read the incantation for [Spiritual Pulse], and actually form the spell properly was something which shouldn't be able to happen. But it did.

"I'm as clueless about this as you. Just make sure to not let that spell touch anything, else it will just explode."

Just then, [Spiritual Pulse] cancelled from Sarah's hand.

"The spell. I didn't stop channelling my Spiritual Energy, so why did it disappear?"

Questions, Questions, and more questions. Clover was tired of all the things he wanted to know but didn't, adding to his sense of ignorance wasn't something he found to be pleasing at the moment.

Also he had a bigger problem...

"Sarah." he called her. Forcing himself not to sound as dark as his face became. "I need you to promise me you won't breath a word of this to anyone else."

Her intuition kicked in. Why, if, ands, or buts had no place coming from her mouth with how much she was able to read Clover's unmoving state.

It took her some time, however...

"I promise." she really did understand what was going on.

Not long after she gave her vow, three curped knocks broke the scene with an announcement of presence.

Clover was about to speak, when Sarah hoisted herself up then strode at the door.

She opened it...

On the other side was a woman. The colour theme of her figure stood out mostly as red. Her eyes gave off reason and purpose for being here. What was meant by her stature remained for anyone to guess; she didn't want anyone to understand her, nor the poses she stood in.

There was one thing...perhaps it was the only thing which could easily be known when one sees her...

...and that was who she is.

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She is...