blood and fate

With a deep inhale, Sitala was ready. She took a giant dip before launching the wall straight up into the sky. The wall careened through the air with a speed that could rival light, had it been made of wood, it would have burnt to ashes.

"Open your eyes and look up!" Madam Sitala commanded. The girls opened their eyes in a gigantic shock, seeing the wall flying into the sky. Could it possibly enter the planet's orbit at this rate? Sitala could see the fear in their eyes. What goes up must come down, and the girls didn't want to be on the receiving end of that down. She noticed this and barked an order before the girls could run.

"Stay right where you are!" The girls looked up and saw the wall plummeting back down. It had taken almost a minute for it to reach its peak, and now its descent down is deafening. As it kept going, the faster it went. The girls could only stare in horror as to what would happen next. Madam knew exactly what was about to happen. She just had to wait for the perfect time.

As the wall crashed back down to where it was thrown, Winema couldn't help but think this was a test for her to stop the wall from crashing down. Would she even be strong enough to stop it? She was taking too long to think. Right at the moment of impact, she desperately tried to force the air to shove the wall away from them. Madam caught the wall but almost lost her balance due to the wall shifting slightly from the center. The girls cringed as she lifted the wall off of her hands and back to the ground. She scowled at Winema.

"What was the meaning of that?" Sitala bellowed. She could not believe that Winema had not trusted in her demonstration, and was even more insulted that she thought she could block the wall with a mere gust of wind. Foolish child. "I told you to stay right where you were! You could've killed the lot of us!"

If looks could kill, Winema would have disintegrated into thin air. The stare of Madam Sitala could bring the most respected of noble kings to bow in shame. Sitala was one of the most respected women in the world, and she would make sure of it, especially to her nieces.

"I- I.." Win couldn't open her mouth to speak. She felt like her throat was filled with sand and as if her voicebox was ripped out viciously by a hungry lion. Her mind was blank, racing with excuses to defend that stupid decision. She was trembling so hard people could have mistaken her to be in an earthquake. The others simply cowered in fear, looking down at the ground, holding their breath for as long as they could. They would not dare make their presence known.

"Let this be a warning to all of you," She glared at the frightened girls with enough energy to burn a hole in their skulls. Even though they weren't looking her in the eye, they could still feel the wave of anger hit them like a brick.

"If you even DARE to misuse your magic and distrust me and my lessons, you will be made an example of. Are we clear?" It was a rhetorical question. She knew they all heard loud and clear. But they were wasting time, They needed to get back to the lesson at hand,

"Look at me," Sitala demanded. The girls looked up slowly and reluctantly. They hoped to not be the first ones to make eye contact in case she started to yell again.

"Until your idiot of a sister messed with the wall," She gave another glare at her. This time, all Win could do was just stand still and listen. "you would've seen that your spirits helped me throw that wall the furthest I could have thrown it." The girls nodded in awe. Although they half expected her to just let the wall crush them all, they were thankful they had helped with her power.

"The power of familial ties will only last for a couple of minutes, but if you master the art of focus and can quickly transfer the power through your spirits to the person you are helping, you can achieve this in mere seconds." The girls quickly realized that Sitala had enough strength from them to be able to catch the giant rock of a wall. If they could think of her picture quicker, the faster they can transfer energies between one another.

"Remember, you can only do this through ties of blood and fate. That includes each other, me, your family, and any of your future spouses and children." The ladies were shocked. This new information would be vital as the two of them would soon gain their powers. And even for the younger ones who had yet to gain their powers, this would be the perfect opportunity to explore spiritual power before they even received their individual powers.

The rest of the lesson consisted of the girls honing in on their focus on power as they helped strengthen Winema's power. Through the concentration of the girls, Winema was able to experience new heights of power she had never seen before.

She was able to unleash the air around her to carry herself and those around her to basically fly. It was fascinating to see the giggles of the girls as the air fluttered around them, equating them to the birds in the sky. She continued to test out her newfound strength as she conjured fire and threw chunks of the earth up and around with more force than she could dream of.

Sitala was immensely impressed with the progress. She knew the girls were some of the most talented and intelligent this planet had to offer. They learned new skills every day and were always stronger than the next. They all had almost mastered the art of combat and weaponry, being able to handle armies of attackers from all sides. This was a vital skill for them, as they never knew who could be after them.

"Ladies," Madam started, "Excellent first day on spiritual energies. I hope you can apply this to your lives as you prepare for the ball this weekend." The girls were thrilled. Madam seemed to have forgotten about the event that happened during the first lesson, and truthfully, they had learned something that was monumental for their growth. They couldn't wait to use this at the ball.

"Oh, and one more thing," She looked directly at Winema. Her heart dropped. "As a punishment for your... stunt today Winema, you will be taking the stairs back up to the atrium rather than the elevator."

Win sighed with relief. Although it was a hassle to go all the way up the winding, dark stairs of the cave back to the atrium, it was better than what she would have thought. Not that she could think of anything specific, but she knew the punishments could be bad.

"That is all for today. You may take your leave."

"Have a pleasant day Madam." The ladies took a deep bow before starting to head to the changing area. Before they could walk too far, Sitala lightly coughed. The girls whipped their heads back in anticipation.

"Winema, a word?"