Chapter 217: Magic Training

[Third Person's PoV] 

Gwen appeared at the doorway of Peter's room, her steps light but deliberate. Leaning casually against the doorframe, she observed the scene inside with a raised eyebrow. MJ sat beside Peter's bed, holding a steaming bowl of soup and wearing a bright, almost teasing smile.

"Say ahhh~," MJ coaxed, gently waving the spoon in front of Peter's face as if she were trying to feed a toddler.

Peter, however, turned his face toward the ceiling, his expression stubborn and distant, pretending she wasn't even there.

MJ chuckled softly, undeterred. "Alright, here comes the choo-choo train... Chugga-chugga...!" she said, playfully mimicking the sound of a train as she moved the spoon closer.

Reluctantly, Peter opened his mouth, allowing MJ to feed him the spoonful of soup. He chewed lazily, his lips quirking in a small, fleeting smile.

"What in the world are you doing?" Gwen asked, finally breaking the silence, though her tone carried an undercurrent of amusement as she tried to stifle a laugh.

MJ glanced over her shoulder at Gwen, her head tilting innocently. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm nursing Peter back to health."

"Nursing?" Gwen repeated, arching a brow as she stepped into the room. "More like babying, if you ask me."

"You know how he gets when he's sick," MJ countered with a shrug, returning her attention to Peter as she offered him another spoonful.

Gwen scoffed, shaking her head as she approached the bed. "Yeah, and I also know how you get. You always turn all maternal on him."

Ignoring the comment, MJ continued her task with practiced ease, coaxing Peter into eating with soft words. Meanwhile, Gwen leaned closer, brushing her bangs aside and pressing her forehead gently against Peter's.

"Hmm… he's burning up," Gwen muttered, pulling back slightly. She placed her hand over his forehead, her touch growing noticeably colder. Peter exhaled a long, contented sigh, his body relaxing visibly.

"Ahhh~," he murmured sleepily, sliding deeper under the covers. His lips curled into a faint, lazy grin as he mumbled, "Thanks, my little ice cube."

MJ stifled a laugh, barely managing to hold it in, while Gwen's eye twitched in irritation. "If he weren't so sick, I'd punch him for that," Gwen muttered, though there was no real bite in her words.

MJ smirked, lifting another spoonful toward Peter's mouth. "And yet, here you are helping him."

Gwen rolled her eyes before turning toward the window. "Open it."

"What?" MJ asked, pausing mid-motion as she wrestled with Peter, who now wasn't letting go of the spoon and had it trapped in his mouth.

"Just do it," Gwen said with a note of exasperation.

Sighing, MJ set the bowl down on the nightstand and crossed the room. Unlocking the window, she pushed it open, letting in a crisp breeze. Almost immediately, a pale hand appeared on the sill, followed by a familiar voice.

"Thanks for opening up," Felicia said, effortlessly pulling herself up and swinging into the room with feline grace. "I was just about to knock."

Landing lightly on the floor, she turned toward the bed, her sharp eyes softening. "Hey, Pete. You hanging in there?"

Peter cracked one eye open, his gaze hazy. "Heyyy, Kitty-Kitty," he muttered, his voice thick with exhaustion.

Felicia froze mid-step, her lips parting in surprise. "Kitty-Kitty?" she echoed, glancing between Gwen and MJ for an explanation.

MJ smirked, while Gwen sighed. "When Peter's sick, he reverts to... well, this," Gwen said, gesturing toward the bed.

"You mean a child," Felicia clarified, crossing her arms.

"You're a child," Peter mumbled, pouting slightly before closing his eyes again.

Felicia stared for a moment before letting out a soft laugh. "That's so weird... I love it."

"Do you know why he's like this?" Felicia asked, her tone growing more serious. "Aria just told me he had a fever."

MJ picked the bowl back up, resuming her efforts to feed Peter as she explained. "He overexerted himself fighting the Time Lord. Used up every ounce of energy he had, then stayed up all night worrying about… other things."

Felicia's expression darkened slightly. "Other things?"

Gwen sighed, her gaze softening as she brushed a strand of hair from Peter's face. "Although Peter may not look like it, he's a very sensitive guy… especially when it comes to matters concerning family."

"Peter considers family to be one of the most important things in life. So he definitely took it harder than most when he found out his daughter disliked him," MJ added, her voice tinged with sympathy. "It's also why he likes the name The Spider Family and practically recruits anyone he mets"

Felicia leaned back against the windowsill, her arms crossed. A faint smile tugged at her lips. "A big family man too? Can he get any hotter?"

Peter groaned softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Please... not any hotter... I'm already dying…"

The girls burst into laughter just as Peter drifted off into a restless sleep, his breathing uneven but steady. Moments later, Aunt May appeared in the doorway, taking in the scene with a fond smile.

"As much as I appreciate you three looking after my Peter," she began gently, "you're all going to be late for school if you don't leave now."

The trio exchanged reluctant glances, clearly unwilling to leave. Chuckling, Aunt May stepped into the room, taking the bowl from MJ's hands. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him. Ben will drive you. Now off you go."

With heavy sighs, the girls gathered their things and left the room, shooting Peter one last wistful glance before Aunt May ushered them out. Closing the door softly, she turned back to Peter, smoothing the blanket over him.

"You really know how to pick them, don't you?" she murmured with a smile, placing the bowl on the nightstand before slipping out quietly.

…

Scene Changed: Kamar-Taj 

A Few hours later…

Felicia and Gwen stood facing each other in the training yard, their crimson robes billowing slightly in the faint breeze. Both had their hair tied back in ponytails, revealing focused expressions etched across their faces. Their postures radiated readiness, and the tension in the room was palpable.

"In positions. Magic at the ready. Remember, this duel is purely magical," the Ancient One ordered, her tone calm yet commanding. She stood to the side, her fan covering her mouth and nose, only her sharp eyes visible as they flicked between the two combatants.

Gwen took a deep breath and flicked her wrist, summoning a vibrant blue aura that spiraled outward like smoke before solidifying into intricate magic circles around her forearms. The runes shimmered, pulsating with energy.

Felicia, in contrast, leaned forward slightly, stretching her arms out. With a quick motion, she conjured two large silver magic circles, one in each palm, their surfaces glowing with a metallic brilliance.

"Begin!" The Ancient One's voice rang out like a bell, and the duel commenced.

Gwen was the first to act, thrusting her hands forward to unleash her magic. But as her energy surged, the magic circle around her wrists began to flicker erratically, unstable and chaotic.

"Oh dear, your magic's becoming unstable. How terribly unlucky," Felicia remarked with a sly grin, holding her shimmering magic circle steady in front of her.

"You're such a cheat," Gwen grumbled, frustration lacing her voice.

Gritting her teeth, Gwen timed the flickering carefully. As her magic stabilized for the briefest of moments, she thrust her fist forward, sending a concentrated blast of chi hurtling toward Felicia like a streak of lightning.

Felicia waved her free hand, and just as the blast was about to reach her, it dissipated harmlessly into the air. "Tsk, tsk. Your attack fizzled out. How unfortunate. You really should put more power into it if you want it to reach me."

"You're so annoying," Gwen muttered, rolling her eyes. She darted to the side in a blur of motion, moving out of range of Felicia's magical influence as she recalibrated her attack.

Once her magic had stabilized, Gwen began punching the air rapidly, each strike releasing a streaking blast of blue energy toward Felicia.

Felicia smirked as she flipped backward with catlike agility, narrowly evading each blast. Wherever Gwen's attacks struck, icy spikes erupted from the ground, creating a jagged forest of frozen obstacles.

Gwen growled in determination and formed a new magic circle in front of her hands. With a sweeping motion, she unleashed a continuous ray of ice magic, freezing everything in its path as it chased Felicia.

Felicia nimbly flipped and twisted in the air, dodging the icy beam until she launched herself skyward in a graceful arc.

"Gotcha," Gwen whispered, clenching her fist. A magic circle materialized on the ground beneath Felicia, and with a sharp upward motion, Gwen summoned a colossal ice spike aimed directly at her opponent.

Felicia's eyes narrowed as she reacted instantly, conjuring a silver magic circle below her. From it, multiple glowing spheres of magical energy shot forth, bombarding the ice spike until it shattered into glittering shards.

However, as the icy debris rained down, Felicia activated another spell. A shimmering circle formed in her palm, altering the probabilities of the battlefield so that when the shards exploded it would turn into mist encasing the battlefield. The shards dissolved into a dense, icy mist that blanketed the area.

The explosion of mist caught Gwen off guard, a silver sphere of pulsing energy hit Gwen pushing her backward. She coughed as she tried to orient herself. "What? I should've sensed that!"

Felicia's magic had disrupted the chances of Gwen sensing her and her attacks, and Gwen could only rely on sound to detect the incoming barrage of silver energy spheres. She dodged them with fluid movements, but her frustration was mounting.

A blue magic circle formed beneath Gwen, encasing her in a sphere of ice for protection. The mist swirled around her, but she was already formulating a plan, as explosion after explosions shook the sphere of ice.

"She's messing with my ability to sense her attacks... Clever," Gwen muttered, a small smile tugging at her lips. "But she doesn't know who she's dealing with."

Gwen broke the protective barrier around her and leapt into the air, performing a graceful flip that carried her above the mist. Twisting midair, she descended rapidly, her fist surrounded by glowing blue magic circles.

She smashed her fist into the ground with explosive force, sending an icicle shockwave rippling outward. The impact cleared the mist, revealing Felicia frozen mid-action, encased from head to toe in glistening ice.

Gwen straightened, flipping her ponytail back with a triumphant smirk. "Who's the unlucky one now?"

The ice around Felicia began to crack, her silver aura flaring as she broke free with a frustrated growl. Dusting off her robes, she muttered, "Can't win every bet, I suppose."

Silver energy flared around her hand as she prepared her next spell. "But the odds are still stacked against you."

Gwen responded with a confident grin, summoning a new magic circle. From it, an elegant sword of ice materialized in her hand. She twirled it effortlessly before settling into a fighting stance.

"I've fought with the odds stacked against me before, this is nothing new" she replied, her eyes gleaming with determination.

The two continued attacking one another disrupting their attack, and sending barrages of ice everywhere that painted the entire training ground in blue.